


With Stars in Their Eyes

by RavenRAmelia



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, Apocalypse, Dead People, Dog - Freeform, Dogs, Explosion, Explosions, F/M, Fiction, Infection, Love, M/F, Meteor, Mutant, Mystery, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Post-Apocalypse, Scary, Science, Stars, Virus, alive, endoftheworld, f/m - Freeform, lovestory, original - Freeform, reader - Freeform, space, x Reader, x-reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:48:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23777890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenRAmelia/pseuds/RavenRAmelia
Summary: You never thought that moving to a small town in the middle of nowhere would lead you into an insane, post-apocalyptic nightmare. Meteors destroyed your home, and who knows how much of the earth still stands. You fight for your life alongside of a mysterious man that, before this, you could imaging.With your world, as you knew it, was destroyed, you begin to create a new life. Accepting your new was of life was hard, but with him by your side, anything was possible. But something more sinister was lurking behind every corner, threatening to take every bit of humanity the world has left.Originally on Wattpad, updating both at the same time.Mature content.
Relationships: Reader/Other(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. The Beginning of The End

You opened your eyes slowly, cursing the sun coming through your curtains. You had fallen asleep on the couch again and your neck ached as a result. You dragged yourself up to a sitting position, turning off the TV and looking at the state of yourself. You were wearing a sports bra from the day before and your comfy shorts which you had worn so much that they had holes in the crotch from walking. The blanket over you has a dark red stain from the glass of wine you were holding as you drifted off to sleep.

As you recalled the night before, you remembered your trip to the roof. It was your nightly routine. It had become your sanctuary away from the mundane life you had chosen for yourself. It had been 3 months since you moved across the country for a fresh start. You found an apartment in a small town in Minnesota where you could forget life from before and start over. But instead, you threw yourself into the most boring adventure of your life. Alone and poor, you took what you could get.

Your apartment felt like a prison, it was small and dark. It was a studio, because it was all you could afford with the biweekly paycheck from the diner you worked at. The couch had to be right up against the bed just to make room for the TV and your kitchen was almost non existent. You preferred the roof. It was open and free. You had brought pillows up to make a nest, knowing no one else went up there. Your own personal safe place.

Looking up at the stars, you could pretend you were somewhere else. Somewhere exciting. You yearned for something more. Your imagination could run wild with scenarios. You wanted something crazy and adventurous to happen. Something to change your life forever. You wished to be anywhere but here, and your body ached for change.  
Last night, something changed. You were on the roof with a glass of wine, when you decided to take a look across the street at the mirroring apartment building. Some times you could look out and see glimpses of other lives. You knew it was a weird thing to do, but part of you didn't care. The other part of your mind longed for connection. This was the closest you have got in 3 months. There was a woman on the 2nd floor who would blast music and dance with her cats until the neighbors light came on. There was a couple on the 4th floor who had their nightly argument. You never saw their faces but you could some times hear them and see their silhouettes bouncing back and fourth across the room. You didn't envy them. But one room in particular grabbed your attention that night.

The curtains were normally closed, but tonight they were wide open. A warm light emanated from behind the glass. You could see a bed with dark sheets and a couple of dark colored pillows. There was a wooden night stand with a small metal lamp towering over a couple of books. You wished you could tell what books they were. There was a figure sitting at the foot of the bed; a man. He was wearing a light t shirt and a pair of plaid boxers, you could see the curves of his toned muscles underneath. Triceps for days, you thought. His dark hair fell around his face like waves on the beach, framing his cheek bones and chiseled jaw. You wished you could see more of his features, but you knew there was no chance with him this far away.

He was laughing, you could see his chest rise and fall as a dog jumped up on the bed next to him. A German Shepherd was licking his face as he fell backwards onto the bed, the sheets flowing underneath him as he landed. You wanted to be on that bed.

Realizing you might as well have been drooling, you ripped yourself away from your spot on the ledge of the roof. You wanted to take a cold shower and crawl into yourself until you disappear. But, against your better judgement, you take one last look. Instead of looking down to see a man on a bed, you looked directly into the face of the man who was bound to be the main character in your dreams later. You couldn't tell if he saw you or not due to the distance. Well, that was weird, you thought.

Your heart dropped as he put his hand to the window and looked up. He could definitely see you now. You ducked fast hitting your shoulder on the ledge and wincing in pain. You waited there for a few moments until you deemed it safe to pop your head up again. Slowly, you inched upwards until your eyes rose above the stone ledge just enough to see his window. He stood there, scanning the roof for a glimpse of you. After a moment, his gorgeous head turned to face your direction.

He smiled--at least you thought. It had gotten darker and the distance was still a problem. You found yourself staring, not wanting to move a muscle. You couldn't force yourself to smile back, the feeling of being caught weighing on you like a boulder. As your fingers started to tingle, you sucked in a big breath of air, realizing you had stopped breathing.  
A few seconds pass and you are finally able to force a half-smile. His smile grew and your stomach turned. You KNEW he could see you now. He raised a large hand to the glass and waved at you. Butterflies filled your chest and you inched your hand up and over the ledge. Fingers shaking, you waved back. With a slight bow of his head, which you could only translate as Good night , he backed away from the window. You could see his dog following behind him, waiting on his every move. He gestured towards the bed and the dog jumped up and made a nest at the foot.

The light shut off, the only illumination was from the lamp on the nightstand. Soon, that light shut off too. Steadying your breathing and pulling back your hand, you turned and slid down the wall, mind fluttering over the last 5 minutes of your life. Holy shit, you thought, I need to know his name.


	2. The Sky is Falling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's worse than a boring job and no friends? Well, you're about to find out...

Reeling back your memories from the night before, you search for your phone to look at the time. Crap, you thought, late again. You jumped off the couch, throwing the blanket which landed half on the old TV and racing towards your pile of work clothes. Throwing them on, you quickly tie your hair up in a messy bun, heavy on the messy, and grab your keys off the counter. You almost forget your name tag as you run out the door and slam it behind you. Work was going to be awful today.

In no time at all, you stood outside the crappy little diner. At some point in its life, it had been cute and popular with its red and white striped awnings, big windows, and booth seating. But now, the awnings had faded, glass had dulled, and you could only see two customers seated in the back-most booth. An older couple, chatting over plates of eggs and bacon. They still looked at each other as if falling in love for the first time. I want that some day, you thought.

"Late" you heard from the door. It was your boss, Carolyn. She looked exhausted, limp hair falling around her face, uniform wrinkled and stained. Her face scrunched into a scowl. She was older than you by a considerable number of years. Unkempt and tired looking. You couldn't remember the last time she was actually nice to you. "I covered your table. Now get in here and get to work."

You entered the diner, out of breath from running there. It was only a few blocks but you were a little out of shape. Not having friends or places you needed to be, had taken it's toll. Its not that you didn't try, people around there were just different. You walked towards the counter and looked up just in time to see Tyler looking at you from the kitchen. He was tall and lanky with light hair pulled back into a loose bun covered by a hair net. His face was long and horse like. But he was nice, and made your shifts a little more enjoyable with his jokes and small talk.

"Careful, she's in a mood today." He smirked. "Better not do anything to piss her off... oh" A small laugh escaped his lips as he exited the kitchen opposite of the counter to you. He crossed his arms and scanned you head to toe. You realized that you had never actually looked in a mirror. You were in such a hurry to leave the house that you didn't even check to see if you were presentable.

You could feel your cheeks turning red as you turned towards the bathroom. You rushed in and locked the door behind you. Looking into the mirror above the sink, you saw yourself. Mascara under your eyes, hair tied in a half-ass messy bun, stands falling around your face like vines. Your lipstick from the night before had faded and smeared. Crap, you thought, better fix this.

You grab some toilet paper and begin wiping at your face to remove the unwanted makeup and sweat. There was no way it was all coming off without makeup remover, but you did your best. Finally, you could see your real face shining through. You had rubbed so hard that you had red circles under your eyes, but splashing some cold water on your face calmed your skin enough to reenter the diner.

You cracked the door open, making sure no one was around before walking out entirely. The diner was empty, except for the noise coming from the kitchen and Carolyn fiddling with the cash register. The older couple had left, leaving their dishes and a tip on their table. You walk forward to start cleaning up and you pick up the tip on autopilot and put it in your pocket.

"Oh no you don't!" yelled Carolyn from the cash register. "You have to work to get tips." She was right. You were late and didn't even work that table. You walked over to her, placing the 5 dollar bill on the counter next to her, and dragging your heels as you picked up a dish tub walking back to the messy table. Stacking plates and coffee cups, you place them into the tub and carry them through the doors of the kitchen, to the sink. 

"There she is." Tyler popped his head out from behind a corner. "You don't look like you died any more."

"Ha ha." You said sarcastically, snarky smile creeping onto your face. "I slept on the couch again."

"Ah," He sighed, reaching over to fix your collar. "so not a crazy party?"

"No," You smiled, wishing that wasn't the case, "I lost track of time." Your eyes searched for a reason to avoid his questions. There was no way you were about to tell him the real reason you were up so late. Grabbing the rag hanging on the side of the sink, you turn on your heels and march back through the door to the dining room.   
With your eyes on the dirty table, you use your rag to begin wiping off the crumbs. You would think older people would be more clean, you thought, as you pushed all the crumbs into a circle at the edge of the table. 

The rest of your shift went by slowly, only a few customers. But, by comparison to other days, that was busy. How is this place even still open? You wonder, as you continue counting the register. You couldn't wait to be back up on the roof, sipping wine and staring up at the stars. Maybe you could even sneak a peek and the gorgeous man across the street. A memory shoved its way into your brain: He was at the window, his hair falling around his face, highlighting his perfect smile. Keep it together, you thought, your shift is almost over.

Grabbing your keys, you come face to face with Tyler. He was turning the light off in the kitchen, getting ready to leave as well. He smiled and gestured towards the door with his long arm and calloused hand and you turn towards the exit. 

"Would you like company walking home? I hear there is supposed to be a beautiful meteor shower tonight." He asked, hopefulness in his eyes. You knew Tyler had a crush on you. He had been flirting with you for weeks. But you had gotten good at deflecting, honestly, you couldn't see him as more than a coworker. But, him being the only one in your small town to be nice to you, you couldn't say that you hadn't thought about it. 

"No thanks," you said, thinking about the day you just had, "I need to decompress. Maybe another time."

Walking home was lonely, but you appreciated the calm, empty streets around you. It was 8 o'clock and the sunlight was restricted to a small part of the sky at the end of the road in front of you. The town was small, with a population of about 500 people, most residing in the crappy apartments surrounding your own.

As you reached toward the door to your apartment, you couldn't help but feeling a little bit excited. You could finally relax and go up to your sanctuary. Eagerly, you swung the door open and flung yourself onto your bed, sending the pillow flying into the wall. Turning over, you stare at the ceiling thinking about what Tyler had said. Beautiful meteor shower tonight. The excitement of seeing something like that made your hands tingle. 

You ripped off your dirty uniform and threw on a pair of black leggings and a loose fitting blue t shirt. It had a few holes in it, and you suddenly remembered his face. You threw the t shirt on the floor while looking for something more presentable. Just in case, you thought. Finding a bra and a lacy fitted grey tank top, you put them on, liking the way it showed off your shoulders. You grabbed your deep red cardigan, it was chilly outside. Before leaving you washed the left over makeup from around your eyes and mouth. Finally feeling clean. Pouring a glass of red wine, you set off to the roof to escape your life.

Out on the roof, you examine the nest you made. It consisted of 3 large dark blue pillows, a pink comforter, and a few smaller light blankets. You used an old tote to keep them dry when not in use. It came in handy while moving your things into your new apartment, but started to take up space once you had unpacked. But, once you found the roof, it had a new job. 

Looking up at the sky from your nest, you took a sip of wine. It was bitter, not the kind you favored, but better than nothing. Money was tight, but you weren't worried about it. You had enough to survive, and the occasional bottle of whatever wine you could afford. The next sip burned your throat for a second; an accepted feeling. You preferred a drink that would make you feel something. 

After staring at the stars for a bit, you realized Tyler never said when the meteor shower was happening. You could have missed it and you wouldn't even know. Your eyes wandered from the stars for a moment, looking over at the ledge. Do you risk being seen to maybe see him again? Your mind said no, but you body was aching for a peek at his stunning, muscular body again. Crawling over to the ledge, you slowly lifted your body up, almost looking over the wall. With a long exhale, you raised your head up, looking across the street. 

The room was dark, curtains closed. Damn, a sigh escaped your lips as you turned back towards the sky. At least the stars could keep you company. You slowly returned to the comfort of your nest. Disappointment lingered in the back of your mind, urging you to wait at the wall with hopes of another chance to see his face. But, you fight it. The comfort of your nest was just what you needed. 

The stars were beautiful tonight. Shining and shimmering as if they were saying hello. You imagined being among them, floating out into space, not a care in the world. You could go anywhere and do anything your heart desired. Other worlds were calling your name, adventures to be had. 

You saw it. Streaking through the sky, a ball of fire passing the earth. You expected to see faint lines of the meteors littering the sky, knowing they would be far away. But, this seemed so much closer--too close. You stomach sank as more burning trails lit up the sky. Not going by the earth, but right at it. It wasn't long before you heard the first impact. A dull thud from miles away in the fields surrounding your small town. You could see the explosion of earth and fire. Then another, and another. 

That's when it happened. You start hearing small objects hitting the ground all around you, turning ordinary objects into Swiss cheese. You see a small ball of fire hit the wall next to you and go right through it. People were screaming, car alarms were going off, and some larger impacts shook the building under your feet. All you could see was fire, leaving destruction in its wake. Feeling a rush of adrenaline, you use it to jump up off your nest and run towards the door to the stairwell.


	3. Fire and Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are you alive? Did that really just happen? Nothing could have prepared you for what just happened. How do you deal with your world collapsing?

The second you opened the door, the assaulting smell of smoke hit your nostrils with enough force to knock you back a step. The sound of the impacts were deafening and you knew there was no going back. Covering your mouth and nose with your cardigan, you began the decent to the floors below you. Moving as fast as you can you swung yourself around the turns, trying not to trip. You knew that if you did, you might not get out of this alive. 

Another large impact threw you off balance, this one closer. Smaller rocks were flying around you hitting the walls and melting the railings leading down to your escape. Where am I even going? You thought. Realization that going outside could kill you, but staying inside doesn't give you a better chance, flooded over you. This was a lose-lose situation. But that wouldn't stop you from trying. Staying in a burning building was guaranteed death, you HAD to get outside. 

Sweat was pouring down your face, mixed with soot making your eyes burn. The smoke was thick like vaporized tar. You could smell your hair burning and you felt wisps of flame reach up and lick your legs. You couldn't see, shutting your eyes, you felt your way down to the first floor, running head first into the door. It burned. Reeling back in pain, you forced your hand out to reach for the door knob. Your fingers found it, but white hot pain shot up your arm making you scream. This is it, you thought, this is how i die. 

Throwing the singed cardigan over your head, you backed up and kicked the door with all the energy you can muster. Pain shot up your leg making you realize that you just kicked a door that opens in, not out. But you couldn't think about that right now, you just needed to get OUT. There was no other option. You couldn't go back up, there was only out. Not ready to accept defeat, you kicked the door again sending dull pain throughout your body. Again, you kicked, and again. Your leg felt ready to fall off.   
You backed up for one more, feeling your sprained ankle, making you wince in pain. You duck as you hear another meteorite come through the wall and hit the ground a few feet away. Your breathing was shallow, eyes were burning, heart was beating out of your chest. The small room was closing in around you. Your mind was easing you into unconsciousness.

With a huge bang, the door in front of you flew open, the smoke was sucked out the air cleared for a split second. As the smoke crept back in, you felt yourself being lifted into the air and rushed into the entrance. You were being cradled by a pair of large, muscular arms holding you tight as you were carried through to the cold air outside. Fresh air was forced into your lungs and you went limp. Allowing yourself to be carried away into the night. 

As the smoke cleared, you found yourself being laid down gently on the grass. Looking up, you saw your savior. His dark hair sticking to his face with sweat, eyes glimmering emerald green in the light of the fire, the look of concern furrowing his brow. His unsmiling lips were stern and still. It was him. The guy from across the street you had been drooling over for the past 24 hours.

He released you from his arms, turning back to look at the remains of the town. His dark undershirt was burned, his pink flesh peaking out from underneath, irritated by the flames. Thank god i put on pants tonight, you thought, as he turned around to face you. 

"Stay here," his voice was like caramel, dripping out of his mouth and into your ears. He sounds exactly as you had imagined. "I have to go back." He stood up turning back to the town just as a huge blow threw you both backwards, his back colliding with your chest. A car, parked a few meters away, had exploded. It's bumper flew past you, hitting a tree and ricocheting off towards you. He threw his arms around you and pulled you out of the trajectory of the flying metal. 

You were on your back, looking up into his eyes, like pools of tropical water. The sweat dripped off his nose, landing on your cheek. He sat up abruptly as if embarrassed and turned his head away. You tried to sit up, but your body was fighting you. Every inch of you was in intense pain. Your skin was on fire, your eyes stung like knives had been pushed into them, and you realized your shallow breathing. Fingers tingling, your eyes threatening to close, you were able to say one thing before losing consciousness: "Thank you." you mumbled as the darkness seeped up and swallowed you.

In your dream, you were once again floating among the stars. It was peaceful, quiet, and stunning. The stars were shining like glitter thrown in the air. You hung there for a second, admiring the beauty that surrounded you. But all at once, they were ripped away. You were falling through the space, stars flying by turning into pin pricks in the distance. You felt hot, like the friction of moving that fast through space was raising the temperature of everything around you. 

You felt yourself falling, passing clouds and looking up at the sky. You knew you should be panicking, but for some reason, you just enjoyed the fall. The air passing by you was hot, but not burning. Your hair flying up around you encasing your face as you plummeted to the earth. You closed your eyes, and felt the impact.  
You sat up suddenly and a raspy scream escaped your lips. Your eyes opened letting in the blinding sunlight, burning your retinas. You placed your hands on your face, wincing in pain from your burnt palm. The memories from the night before flooded your brain. The panic, the fire, the explosions, and blood. A tear escaped you eye, stinging your face as it dropped. 

Feeling a hand on your shoulder, you turned, opening one eye, just enough to see a kind face. She shushed you and took your hand placing a wet cloth on it. It felt so good on your burned palm that you almost snatched it away from her. Stopping yourself, you looked back up into her eyes. 

"Thank you," you whispered, voice horse from breathing in smoke. 

"How are you feeling?" Her long graying hair was tied up into a tight bun, smiling through cracked lips, eyes a beautiful shade of blue. An older woman that you recognized from the apartment building. She lived down the hall from you with her husband, who you could see tending to another figure laying on the ground not too far from you. She saw the devastated look on your face and pulled you into her arms, holding you tightly. "It's ok, you're alright. We've got you."   
You couldn't hold back the tears any longer, you leaned into her and let yourself feel all of the emotion you were holding inside of you. All of the fear, the pain, and the weighing feeling that everything you had, was now destroyed. Your home, your work, maybe even Tyler and Carolyn, the only people who spoke to you in your tiny excuse for a town. Your world was gone. 

She sat there with you for a few minutes, wiping away your tears as they fell. You could tell she was a mother, holding you until you couldn't cry any more and the tears had dried up. She took your hand gently and moved your arm to your side, placing it on something soft and warm. An animal? You thought. Lifting your head off of her chest, you looked to your side to see a large dog. It'd chest raising and falling, breathing deeply in it's sleep. 

You buried your hand in it's fur as if thanking it for looking after you as you slept. You had no idea how long it had been there, but it was a nice thought compared to all of the devastation surrounding you. For the first time, you were able to look around ad soak in what kind of situation you were in.   
It was daylight, early morning according to the cold dew on the grass around you. The hillside was littered with holes and singed grass. There were people surrounding you on the hill. Some laying down, some pacing across the field, and some unconscious. People were burned and bleeding, you didn't see a single person without an injury. You looked past the people and back at the town. It was smoking, heavily, the buildings broken down into piles. Nothing was as you remembered it. You could see fires still burning, begging to be put out. It was gone. 

"Maggie, could you help me with this?" The woman looked up at her husband, and then back at you. 

"It's ok, I'm ok.' You said as she nodded and gathered her things, leaving you with the wet rag and the sleeping dog, and running over to her husband, who was attempting to wrap some ones bleeding leg. Ouch, you thought, realizing you should check yourself over for injuries. 

You reached up and lightly felt your face. Your skin was raw and sensitive from running through fire. You slid your hands down to feel your neck. No pain, just the same sensation of raw skin, like a sun burn. Moving your hands once again, you touched your shoulders. You felt warm liquid cover the fingers of your right hand. The pain surged through your entire body as you brought your hand away, looking at bright, crimson blood. You could feel yourself getting light headed but pushed through it, placing the wet rag over your bleeding flesh, screwing your face up at the pressure. 

Looking down, you saw your leggings, skin peeking through singed fabric. No blood. Well, that's good, you thought, feeling your torso for wounds. You flinched as your hand grazed over your ribs, dull pain surging through your body. Hopefully just bruised, you thought. Turning your attention to your hand once more, you see the singed flesh, starting to blister. 

"Stella!" a voice deep yelled from behind you. The dog suddenly picked up her head, looking in that direction, and let out a small whimper. She lifted herself off the ground and stretched out her legs. Turning around she wagged her tail and sat back down next to you. A shadow crept over you, taking away your sunlight. 

"Good morning," Said a deep, masculine voice. Like music to your ears. You turned your head towards him, ignoring the pain in your shoulder. He stood there with his ruined undershirt, burn holes scattered throughout it, teasing you with glimpses of ivory skin accented with red. You realized you were staring.


	4. As The Dust Settles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rising from the embers, you must find a way to survive. You know you have to go back, but you need to tend to yourself and others first.

"G--good morning." You stutter, tripping over your words as he loomed over you. His hair was wet, dripping as if he just got out of a steamy shower. But, the water bottles in his hand told a different story. Eyes wandering to his neck, you see a deep purple bruise forming, fading into his broad, muscular shoulders. He leaned over and raised two bottle of water towards you, hands so large he could fit both bottles in one.

You take one, fingers lightly brushing his. And you feel your cheeks growing hot, though you didn't think it was visible through your red, irritated skin. A smile crept over his face, showing a set of perfect, porcelain teeth. Was he just a figment of your imagination? No one was that perfect.

"You're bleeding," He said, eyes scanning your shoulder. His voice waved over you like honey. He pulled a rag out of the back pocket of his jeans, pouring water over it. Kneeling next to you, he gently pressed the cloth to your aching skin, careful to not cause any pain. The cold felt amazing, water dripping down your back, soaking into your shirt. "This may hurt a little," He wiped way some of the scabbed blood, sending shocks through your torso.

"I'm sorry," he said, placing his other hand on your lower back, forcing butterflies into your stomach. "I'm Adam."

As you turned your head to face him, nothing could have prepared you for the being that close to his face... his beautiful face. You could feel his warm breath on your cheek, his eyes were a deep green with golden undertones, making you think of a lush forest. You knew you should respond, but forming words was suddenly the hardest thing you had ever had to do, and you just ran from meteorites. Voice shaking, you introduced yourself.

"Your're the one who saved me," You whispered the ability to speak finally coming back to you. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, I couldn't let the mysterious girl from across the street burn to death." He laughed. It was like music, you could see the smile in his eyes now. Memories of being caught on the roof two nights prior, flooded your memories. Once again, your cheeks flooded with color and your heart sank a little.

"I'm so sorry about that." You looked down at your legs, hoping he didn't notice the embarrassment sweeping over your face. You closed your eyes for only a second, before you felt his fingers on your chin, pulling you back up to face him.

"It's ok," he said with a large smile reaching across your face, "I couldn't stop thinking about you either." He examined your face, like he was trying to memorize it. If it weren't for your already rosy cheeks, he would have seen you blushing harder than you ever had in your life. He gently brushed your hair behind your ear. You wanted to melt into him like warm butter.

Collecting yourself, the pain in your shoulder resurfaced. You winced and examined your throbbing hand. He took it in his hand, three times bigger than your own. Pouring water on it and replacing the rag. "We're going to have to find something to put on that," he placed your hand back into your lap and looked back to the smoldering town.  
He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard about something. His lips parting, he took a deep breath, raising his chest and letting it fall like waves on a beach. You sighed, and looked as well. You knew he was thinking about going back. Back into the smoke and ruins of your former life.

Out of the corner of your eye, you a man leaning up against the shattered tree fiddling with a phone. They looked distressed, frantically touching the screen. "No service!" He exclaimed, throwing the phone to the side, one hand covering his face. It bounced off the grass with a thud. "Does any one else have a phone?" He was older, maybe in his 50's, gray peeking through his short brown hair. His face hardened, you could see the years wearing on him.

"Do you have a phone?" He looked at you, furrowing his brow. "Some one has to have a phone!"

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything." You say, looking down at yourself. You had nothing. Nothing but what you were wearing and the bottle of water. Looking up at Adam, he shrugged. He didn't look like he had much more. You wondered where the water came from. Fucking gorgeous, magic giant, you thought.

"We have to go back and look around." Adam said to you, "We need to contact some one, or at least look for supplies or a place to stay until help comes." Your heart sunk. You didn't want to go back there, you knew your home was destroyed. There was nothing for you there. But, you couldn't stay here. Yes, the hill was nice, but what if it rains? Or snows? You were in Minnesota after all.

Sighing, you lifted yourself up to look around. There was a group of people down the hill a little from you, the older woman, Maggie, and 5 small children. The were bruised and dirty. The youngest, only wearing a diaper. Where are their par— your thought trailed off as your gaze shifted to the town, in ruins, Where is anybody?

Adam reached a hand towards you, helping you to your feet. His hand gently enveloped your undamaged one, but you could feel his strength. A dull pain resonated in your thighs. Yep, still out of shape, you thought. Stumbling, you centered yourself. You could see down the hill better now. Only about 30 people surrounded you. You saw him, Tyler was alive!

"Tyler!" You yelled down the hill. He turned his head to face you. Oh my god, you thought. Upon turning, you could see his whole face, only half was recognizable. His left eye was swollen shut, bloodied and bruised. His cheekbone was hidden by coagulated blood but, he still managed a smile. 

When you tried to run over to him, you tripped over your toes, realizing you weren't wearing shoes. What kind of an idiot doesn't wear shoes to the apocalypse? You thought, giggling. You walked the rest of the way, cringing every time you used your sprained ankle. Stella followed you, watching your every move like she was told to watch over you. It was comforting. 

You didn't know much about Adam, but you could tell he cared about you. Not sure why, you thought, you just met him the day before and you hadn't even really had a conversation. None the less, Stella by you made you feel safe. Damn my damsel in distress mentality.   
You reached Tyler, who was sitting on the ground, looking up at you. You knelt next to him and stared. His good eye was watering, you could tell he was holding back tears.   
Looking at you, his smile disappeared, and he looked distraught. 

"What happened?" You asked softly. "Did you make it home?" He couldn't hold back any longer, he let his tears flow down his face. 

"I-- I made it home." She sniffed and winced at the pain in his face. "My mom--she--was just getting home from work"

You could see the pain in his eyes, something happened, something bad. He opened his mouth again to speak, but you leaned over and hugged him, stopping him from talking about it. You already knew what happened. He tensed up against your touch, body shaking. You held him there for a second before he wrapped his arms around you, holding you tight, as if you would disappear. Stella walked up beside you and laid down, head next to Tyler's leg. 

You sat there, embracing Tyler as he shook. Wishing it would stop, wishing none of this had happened. You thought about your apartment, it may have been small and gross, but it was home. Then thought about the diner, and how it was the only place in town that would hire you. You hated it there, but it was a job and you had Tyler, the one person who seemed to care about you. Nothing would ever be the same again. Nothing would ever be back to the way it was.


	5. The Remains of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding Tyler, you knew you needed supplies and shelter. Adam takes it upon himself to create a group to search the town.

You sat there in silence, watching Tyler's face for any hint of emotion. He was in shock and you didn't have the slightest clue how to deal with something like that. Lifting his hand in yours, you placed the water bottle in his palm. His hands were ice cold. 

"I can take care of him, dear," Maggie joined you on the soft grass. She looked at Tyler with concern and brushed his hair out of his face. His ponytail had come undone and his hair fell limply around his face, drenched in sweat. "He doesn't look so good."

Standing up, ignoring the pain, you turned back to Adam. He was laying in the grass, lost in thought. He was the only other person you knew there. You may have only just met, but you needed company right now. Hobbling over, you sat next to him, followed by Stella. She laid down in between you and Adam, laying her head on his lap. 

"Welcome back," he said, squinting against the sun. You estimated that it was around noon. Not that you had ever been any good at estimating the time, but it was a good guess. You lowered yourself onto the warm grass and looked up at the sky. It was so non-threatening looking. You almost couldn't believe the damage it inflicted the night prior. "Is your friend ok?"

"No," you whispered back. Nothing was ok. You could feel tears swelling up in your eyes. Blinking them away, you glanced over at him. He had rolled over onto his side to face you. He looked worried. "But, I'm ok-- I think."

"I saw you before, you know." You rolled over so you were face to face. "On the roof. You went up there all the time."

"You-- you did?" You stuttered.

"Yea, sorry. I spend a lot of time in front of that window. Not a lot of things to do around here." You immediately felt much less embarrassed. He was right, the only interesting   
thing in town was a small bar inhabited by the elderly. Nothing screamed fun like 10 drunk men arguing about sports. "If it helps at all, I felt like a total creep."

"No!" You blurted out, clearing your throat and carrying on in a calmer voice."No, it's ok. I did too." You laughed together for a moment. It felt good to laugh after everything that happened. There was something distracting about it, you could feel the color returning to your face at last. "I actually appreciate that. No one except Tyler has even made   
eye contact with me since I moved here. I was starting to think I had something on my face."

He laughed and rolled over as well. You looked up at the sky together, basking in the sun. You knew you had to go back. Five minutes wont hurt, you thought. He was the first to speak, breaking the comforting silence. 

"We need to look for supplies before the sun goes down." He said, sitting up. A few people looked in your direction, listening. "I want you to stay here."

"No way!" You bolted up, forgetting about your bruised ribs. "I'm coming with!"

"Are you sure?" He asked, puzzled look on his face, "It might be dangerous, we don't know the extent of the damage." He was right, you didn't know what you were about to walk into, but you still knew you had to go. 

"I'm sure." You felt a sense dread sweeping over your body. By the looks of it, there weren't a lot of people who could walk, let alone carry things back. Every one was bloodied and broken. "It's ok. I want to help."

He smiled, looking into your eyes, and nodded. He reached out a hand to you. You took it, feeling the butterflies once again. You walked down the hill together and turned to face the group of survivors. Public speaking was not your strong suit so you let him take the lead.

"We need to go to go look for supplies and shelter for the night." He announced, "We have two so far, is there any one else interested in helping us?"  
Whispers flutter over the hill, looks of concern and anger covered their faces. No one spoke up, no one raised their hands. Adam looked at you, shrugged, and turned around to face the town. You went to turn your back on them as well, when you heard a deep gruff voice.

"I'll come with," the man said. The same man who asked if you had a phone. "Maybe we can find a way to contact some one." He introduced himself as Joe, ex military, though he never said which branch. He dodged the question every time it was brought up. His aging, pasty skin and deep set, brown eyes told a story of pain. 

"You could try the police station," a smaller, petite man said quietly, "I'm-- I was working there. I know my way around." He was looking down. There was no way he was a police officer, he was basically a twig with legs. But, you didn't question it. His name was Freddie. He was shorter than you, little to no muscle mass, and glasses. His brown hair looked greasy, but you couldn't judge too hard, knowing what you must look like. 

A couple other people joined your group. A man and a woman in their early twenties, they looked familiar, but you couldn't place them. Their names were Sam and Lauren, you assumed they were a couple because you hadn't seen them leave each other's side. She was small, maybe 5 foot and he was towering over her. She had ashy blonde hair and was pulled up tight into a bun, like a dancer. Her eyes never left Sam's face. His red curls sat on top of his head like a nest, awaiting a bird. Scrawny, but not as much as Freddie. 

The group sat in a circle in the grass away from the group to create a plan. Helping you to the ground, you sat next to Adam. Your mind was swimming over every thing that had happened to bring you to this point. Your eyes swelling with tears, you focused back on the group, hoping for a distraction. Looking around, you saw the other faces of your group, unfocused and sad. You wished some one would break the silence before you broke down again.

"We need shelter," Adam spoke up abruptly. Looking around for input. "And supplies."

"We don't even know if there is anything left," said Joe, "Or if anything is on fire. This could be dangerous."

"I know, and that's why we need a plan." Adam looked around. "I think we should look for supplies first. Maybe some bottles of water or food survived. Then, we need to find a place to take shelter. Preferably something untouched by fire."

"We need to try to find a phone!" Joe yelled, as if Adam had just offended him. "We need rescue!"

"We don't know if any one else is a live. There was no way that was a secluded event." Every one looked over at him. He was staring off towards the town, or what was left of it. 

"That was a meteor shower, they aren't usually small."

I didn't think of it that way, you thought. You hadn't stopped to think how this may have affected the rest of the earth. Looking around at the rest of the field you were in, there were smoking holes as far as you could see. How big was thing thing?

The rest of the plan came together easily. You were going to start with the grocery store and move on to the clinic. There was a doctor with the group staying behind. He had an injured leg with a bad burn and couldn't walk. None the less, he was able to make a list of things to look for. Bandages, ointment and fluids. Freddie had the idea of checking out the hardware store. You could look for tools and supplies if you needed to stay on the hill. 

Feeling a new sensation of determination, you all stood in a line facing the rubble. Adam took your hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. You knew at that moment, that as long as he was at your side, you could face anything.


	6. Star Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You walk into town in search of supplies. Death everywhere you look and supplies are limited. Hopefully you can find shelter.

Your group walked close together, trying to avoid fire and debris. The heavy smoke had mostly cleared, some still lingering over a few buildings which were smoldering from the fire that had ravished their walls one night prior. Everything looked completely different, but eerily similar. Every other house was burned to the ground, others were barely holding on to their frames. You couldn't see one building that was unharmed. 

You did your best not to look at the bodies. They were scattered through town, all with unimaginable injuries. Some burned, some with holes and missing limbs. Thrown around like rag dolls, the limp bodies were a reminder of the hell you had escaped. 

Stumbling, your foot caught on something. Looking down you realized, to your horror, that your foot was trapped under a hand. It's fingers stretched out like a spider, you let out a squeak. You felt arms around you, pulling you back to your feet and removing your foot from it's captive. You looked up to see the concerned eyes of Adam.

"Thanks," you whisper, regaining your balance, "I need to find some shoes. And preferably not ones that some one else is wearing." He smiled down at you, concern still lingering on his face. Taking your hand, he guided you along a path between the bodies and rubble, as to not hurt your feet. Zigzagging across the street, you held tight onto his hand, trying not to think about all the death. You wanted to cry, but your tear ducts had run dry. So you just kept walking, eyes ahead, looking for something promising. The grocery store was in the middle of town and the clinic was a few blocks further. 

After about dozen blocks, you turned a corner and there it was. Half standing and smoking, the grocery store stood tall, almost like a beacon of hope. Lights flickering and sparks flying, the sign on the front was unreadable. But, inside, you could see the shelves, there was food in there!

Approaching the door, you realized that there wasn't much point in a door any more. The glass windows were shattered and the ground and walls were covered in holes, big and small with singed edges. You had a list of things to find: bottled water, energy bars, mostly dry foods that wouldn't go bad quickly. No one knew how they would have to survive before help came. If help was coming. 

Entering the store, you pushed that thought from your mind. Of course some one was coming to help. Some one from a neighboring town, or even the city. There would be ambulances and fire fighters coming to take you away some where safe, right?

Looking around, you found a cart that wasn't broken. If you found water, you would need something to carry it in. Most of the food had fallen off the shelves and there was a massive puddle of juice who's bottles had been punctured by the meteorites. A small fire had been started near the freezer isle, which caused all the glass doors to shatter. Not that you had a freezer to keep anything frozen, but you would't have been mad to find some ice cream. You stayed away from that area, to save your bare feet from shards of glass.

The first isle had tipped over, covering the the cereal and coffee. You had been hoping to find some instant coffee to nurture your caffeine addiction. Sighing, you moved on to the next isle, hoping to find anything worth while. What you saw, made your heart skip a beat. 

A woman was lying face down in the middle of the isle, partially covered with boxes of noodles that had fallen off the shelves, hand still on her overturned stroller. You slid to the floor, no movement was coming from the mother or the contents of the stroller. You could see a singed hole entering the side and exiting the other. A scream was trapped in your throat, blood rushed to your face and you tried to cry. But instead, you sat there, chest tight, cupping your face in your hands. This is so fucked up, you thought.   
Slowly, you raised your head. This wasn't the time to break down. There were people back on the hill that needed your help, that needed you to bring back food and water. Opening your eyes, you tried to avoid looking at the body. You scanned the food on the ground, picking up some noodles that looked unharmed. But, you couldn't help yourself. As you stepped over her, you could see her face. Her eyes were open, staring straight ahead. They were dull, but you could still see their eerie ice-blue color. They looked unnatural, glowing, almost. 

You made your way through the next couple isles, picking up some energy bars, soup, and crackers. There wasn't a lot that was undamaged. The grocery store was hit worse than you originally thought. But you were able to find enough food to fill your cart. The bottled water had taken a beating, but you found a decent amount and you put it on the bottom of the cart. You felt like a doomsday prepper. The thought made you laugh. 

Meeting up with the rest of your group, they had not been as fortunate as you. Their carts were empty compared to yours. Feeling proud of yourself, you smiled. They combined their carts into one and worked their way back out of the store. 

"I found something for you," Adam's deep voice came from behind you, hand on your shoulder. You turned as he held out a pair of shoes. "I didn't know your size, but I hope these work." They were bright blue tennis shoes with dark blue laces. You thought about asking where he found them, but then realized, you didn't want to know. They looked about your size so you slipped them onto you bare feet. Like a glove, you thought, how in the world... 

The clinic was only a few blocks away, getting the carts there was the hardest part. The ground was littered with debris. Joe was able to find some band-aids at the grocery store, but that didn't cut it. You needed more bandage supplies and medications. Hopefully, the clinic was still standing. 

It was not. It laid in pieces, smoking. Any hope was wiped from your faces as you all stared at the rubble. It looked as if it was hit heavily, resulting in a fire. You thought about all the people on the hill with injuries that needed medical attention. 

Your heart sank and you looked up at Adam. His eyes were stern and muscles rippled under his shirt. He was mad, apparently he had got his hopes up too. You took your hand and placed it on his shoulder. He flinched at your touch but turned his head to look at you, eyes softening. He put his hand over yours and gave it a little squeeze. 

"We should check the houses, maybe we can find some supplies there." Taking your hand, he paced it on his cheek. Stubble scratching your palm, you moved your fingers to cup the side of his face. He smiled, like he was telling you it would all be ok. You smiled back as he placed his hand on your cheek in return. You had never felt so safe, but so afraid in your life.


	7. Home Away From Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After looking for supplies, you need to find shelter. But, who really had your back?

Looking over the rest of the town came with few victories. A few bandages from the houses, canned food, and some bottled water. You were able to find a lot of blankets and pillows for comfort, some with burn holes, but you weren't being picky. Joe made a trip back to the grocery store to find another functional cart to pile them into. It was time to find shelter. 

The houses were mostly damaged, collapsed and exposed. None of them had enough room for the entire group any ways. The diner was gone, that was large enough for a decent amount of your group. There was one last place to check: the school. It wasn't as big as a normal high school, but it still a gym that would be large enough for every one to set up camp, and if not that, maybe a few of the class rooms. 

Compared to the rest of the buildings in town, the high school was huge. Kids came from neighboring towns to attend. You were grateful that you never had to go. The outside looked run down and tired. No one ever really payed attention to the town, it all looked like it did in the 50's. A town full of people who didn't like change. 

The six of you stood in front of the shattered glass doors leading into the empty halls. Lockers lining both sides, some hanging open and others secure in place. It was eerie seeing a school like this. It was empty at the time of the meteor shower, as far as you knew. No one was going to school after dark. So there was little chance of finding bodies. Thank god, you thought. You didn't know how much more of that you could take. 

There was no evidence of fire so far. Just areas of slight collapse and the occasional cluster of holes and damaged walls. No one seemed to know their way around the school, but that was ok. There was only one way you could go because of a large crater blocking your way at a T, leading all the way into the basement. You didn't dare get too close, for fear of collapsing the floor around it. 

Adam tried to open the door at the end of the hall. He pushed on it lightly, just to be safe. It didn't budge. Another push produced an inch of space. It was enough to see if there was something blocking the door. It looked clear, so Adam gave it a heavy shove. The door opened a food, scraping on the laminated floor, leaving a mark. 

On the other side, you could see a large gymnasium. Surprisingly, mostly untouched. The bleachers were stuck out in various positions and the far corner had a basketball sized hole leading to a mirroring one through the floor. But for the most part, it was perfect. No fire damage, no gaping holes in the walls; you would be safe from the elements. 

"We can set up camp here," Adam said. Happiness flooded over you. Finally, a place you could stay. No more searching. "We can leave the supplies and go back for every one else."

"Wait!" Joe blurted out, "What about the police station? We need to call for help!" He was right, but you were running out of sunlight quickly and you needed to get every one to the gym. 

"Since it's getting late, how about you and Freddie go to the police station, and we gather the other survivors and bring them here? Freddie knows the layout so it shouldn't take long." You said, every one looking surprised that you spoke up. 

"Deal." Freddie said as they turned to walk back out the door. Joe seemed to be in a hurry, so you didn't keep him with small talk. He had his mission, and you had yours. 

You looked over at Adam, he was making a pile of food in the corner so we could use the carts for bringing immobile people from the hill to the gym. You put some food and water into a cart, just in case people wanted to stay on the hill. There was a door on the far side, leading outside. You didn't have to navigate the hallway any more. 

Sam and Lauren were laying out blankets and pillows. You had a sneaking suspicion that they were just making themselves a nest, but you didn't have the energy to argue. You just wanted to get back, gather the rest of your group, and sleep. You could feel yourself getting weaker, the lack of food and decent rest was wearing you down. You finished adding things to your cart and turned back to Adam. 

He held out a hand to you containing a granola bar and a bottle of water. You took them, thanked him and took a seat on the bleachers, taking a bite. He smiled down at you, eyes shimmering in the light from the sun set shining through the windows. Hair a mess, clothes dirty, and dried blood spotting his chest, he was still the most handsome man you had ever seen. If anything, the wardrobe imperfections made him look more bad-ass. 

"Where are you from?" he asked. Taking a seat next to you, "If I'm going to survive the apocalypse with you, I should probably know something about you." There hadn't been a good time to sit down and have a conversation since the world came crashing down around you.

"I grew up in California. I'm actually a big city girl." You laughed. He was right, you didn't know anything about each other except the fact that you were both creeps. "Are you from here?"

"I grew up a ways south of here. Moved here to start over." He said, considering your own past, you didn't pry. It was nice to know that you weren't the only one that wasn't raised here. You were pretty sure every one else grew up here and never left. The small town curse. 

There wasn't a lot of time to talk, you had to go back and get the others. Finishing your small meal, you walked with Adam over to Sam and Lauren. They were laying down with their bedding in the corner, giggling to themselves. 

"We're staying here." Sam said abruptly, "We're tired." Lauren rolled her eyes. She looked at you like you just asked her to climb a mountain before you had even opened your mouth. They hadn't said much until this point and you were pretty sure Lauren would never speak directly to you. Remembering back, they didn't really find much food at the grocery store and refused to push a cart. 

"I'm tired too, but you don't see me--" Adam put a hand on your shoulder, willing you to stop. "I mean, we need your help. There are a lot of people and some can't walk." 

"I'm sure you guys can get it under control." He said, looking directly at you, a smirk on his face. How dare they? They were only helping us to help themselves. They had no plan to help any further. 

"Fine," said Adam, "But we need you to share the bedding when we get back."

They laughed. They laughed. What kinds of horrible people were you dealing with? How did you not realize they were like this? Nothing should surprise you any more, but this was mind blowing. Turning your back on them, you walked past Adam, and out the door, sitting down on the stairs and putting your head in your hands in frustration. 

You felt Adam's strong hand on your shoulder, once again. He sat down next to you on the stairs and wrapped his arms around you. His arms were so large that you felt like they completely surrounded you, cutting you off from the outside world. He rested his chin on the top of your head and gave you a squeeze. A welcome, comforting distraction from everything horrible you had encountered in the past 12 hours. You mind wandered back to the hand that snagged your foot, you didn't even know if it was attached to a person any more. And the woman and child at the grocery store. You sobbed. 

He held you there, shaking and crying, as you sunk into him. Letting the sorrow devour you. He let you spiral in pain for a few minutes, giving you a squeeze every time you started crying harder. In any other circumstance, you would have enjoyed it a lot more. But, in this moment, you just wanted to disappear. 

Finally, you lifted your head up. He didn't let go, he held you tight as if you were going to float away. He had a worried look on his face, looking deep into your eyes. You hadn't been this close to any one in years. It was comforting, seeing his focus solely on you. You two were the only ones that mattered in that moment. His arms protecting you, his face relaxing, still looking into your eyes. You found your gaze wandering from his eyes to his lips. Now was not the time, or was it?

You went for it. You leaned in and gave him a light kiss, barely brushing his with your own. They were soft, you tasted your own tears and realized how you must look. Bringing your hands up to wipe your eyes and cheeks, you felt one of his arms leave you. For a second, you thought the kiss had offended him. As your brain caught up with your thoughts, you closed your eyes, wishing to disappear. But you felt a hand on your chin, tilting your head back up. 

Opening your eyes slowly, feeling more tears forming, he was looking at you. Looking into his eyes was mesmerizing. He smiled, and your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. His hand found your cheek and wiped away the fresh tears. His fingers hooked behind your ear and pulled your face back towards his, softly landing a kiss on your lips. 

Curling into his embrace, you kissed back. You placed your hand on his cheek, just to make sure he was real and the world melted away around you. The only thing that mattered was that you had each other. You could do this.


	8. The Children of Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heading back to the hill, you find something you weren't expecting. How could this happen? And how were you going to survive it?

You didn't want to leave the steps. You wished that you could just stay and that would be your new reality. But, you pulled yourselves up off the concrete and made your way back towards the hill. It was only about a mile away, but the exhaustion made it feel like you were walking to a different state. Your shoulder was staring to throb and eyes were dry. You didn't get enough time to recover before venturing off to look for supplies. 

"Woah there," He said, catching you as you stumbled over some rubble. You both paused for a second and he scooped you up into his arms and carried you the rest of the way. With your head on his chest, you could hear his heartbeat. You put your hand on his chest and looked up at him. He was focused on the trek back to the hill. Allowing your eyes to close, you appreciated the rest he had gifted you. 

As you approached the hill, he stood you back on your feet. Something was wrong. The group had retreated towards the tree, bodies littered the ground around them. The majority of the group had succumbed to their injuries. You looked desperately around for Tyler. Scanning the living and dead, you finally found him, leaning up against the tree. He's alive, you thought. He was out cold, but you could see his chest moving to accept oxygen. 

Stella ran to Adam, squealing. She jumped up on him the second you were on the ground. He caught her, and she took your place in his arms like a giant furry baby. It was the most adorable reunion you had ever seen. She stayed behind with Maggie and it seemed she was looking after the children in Adam's absence. 

There were only about 10 people remaining: Maggie and her husband, Tyler, three children, a younger woman, and a middle aged man. You couldn't understand how they all died. They couldn't have been gone for more than 8 hours. When you left, there were a few bad injuries, but most of them were minor: scrapes and lacerations. They should have lived.

You made your way up to the tree to check on Tyler. He was breathing, but he looked like he was in a deep sleep. Checking his pulse, it seemed very slow. You held back tears, trying not to think about his condition. You needed to get him back to the gym and out of the open. 

The sun had almost gone down, leaving the sky streaked with orange and purple. It would have been an amazing sunset under different circumstances. You rejoined Adam at the base of the hill after you carried Tyler over with the help of Maggie's husband, Gary, placing him in one of the carts to be pushed back to your shelter.

Adam was speaking to the group of survivors and apparently, not every one wanted to come with. The young woman, who was barely five feet tall, seemed to be questioning whether is was a good idea to go somewhere where they had less of a chance of being seen by rescuers. She was going to stay behind with the middle aged man in hope of flagging down some one looking for survivors. 

"I'm just scared that they will assume every one is dead." She said, her voice was small, and shaky, as if she didn't believe the words she was saying. "Some one has to stay out in the open to make sure we are found."

She was right, if help was coming, some one needed to get their attention. If some one was coming. You still had no idea what just happened and how big of a problem it actually was. There was no power in the town, no TVs to check the news or phones to call for help. The cars were all riddled with holes and there didn't seem to be any reliable source of transportation. You were stuck. 

The children had glued themselves to Maggie like ducklings. The youngest was crying, you didn't even want to imagine what they had been through today. Too young to know why their parents weren't with them or why they couldn't go home. 

"It's getting dark," Adam mentioned. You think he was picking up on your sadness for the children. "It's going to be ok. They have Maggie to look after them." He took your hand and guided you to the cart containing Tyler. It was going to be a long night, you better get going. Gary had loaded up the kids into the other cart and you all took off towards the school. 

Between shielding the children's eyes from bodies and keeping an eye on Tyler to make sure he hadn't died, the trip took longer than expected. Tyler twitched a few times, which made you hopeful that he would eventually wake up. Hope was all you had, the only doctor died on the hill. 

Approaching the door to the gym, you spotted Joe and Freddie walking from the other direction. They were didn't look upset. Thank god, you thought, maybe they found something good. He and Freddie were holding walkie talkies and a bag that looked fairly full. You couldn't wait to see what was inside. 

You all entered the gym together in good spirits. But, the sight of your sanctuary was shocking. Lauren and Sam were gone. They had ransacked the food and only left behind a blanket and a couple throw pillows for comfort and about half of the food and water. 

"I knew it!" Adam said, face turning red in anger. "How could they?"

You reached for his hand and he withdrew it. This was the first time he had leaned away from your touch. The water bottle he was holding was thrown across the room like a bullet. You wasn't expecting that, you had never seen him angry. Stella wrapped around your legs looked alert. You guessed that she hadn't seen him angry before either. He took a seat on the bleachers and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. You decided that it would be better to leave him alone for now. 

Joe and Freddie approached you, holding out the bag. It contained batteries, a couple of cell phones, and a bunch of medical supplies. They had band aids, bandages, antibiotic ointment and some pain pills. It was exactly what you needed to start treating the other survivors. 

But you couldn't even see straight any more. The exhaustion was taking over. You didn't want to take any of the pillows or the blanket, you would rather leave that for the children or Maggie. You wrapped your cardigan around you as well as you could and found a spot on the floor across the room to lay down. Stella nudged her way under your arm. You were cold, but you were so tired that sleep came easily and you drifted off into dreamless sleep. Even the part of your brain that created dreams, was exhausted. 

You could remember waking up a few times, hearing movement. The gym echoed with every tiny sound. Stella never left your side, letting little snores out as she dreamed. You pulled her closer and fell back asleep, face in her scruff. It was freezing and you cursed at yourself for entering the end of the world in pajamas. It was spring, almost summer, but the cold Minnesota nights were still chilly. Even in your enclosed gym, you could feel a breeze due to the hole in the wall. 

The next time you opened your eyes, there was light peeking in through the windows. Adjusting your eyes, you looked around to see every one gathered on the other side of the room. They were talking, but you couldn't hear what was being said. Stella had left you at some point during the night, but a comforter had replaced her. You hadn't seen it before. It was red and black, filled with down and only a little crispy from fire in a corner. There was a water bottle and energy bar next to your head. 

Sitting up, you looked for Adam and Stella. They were no where to be found. Did he leave? You thought, Was he so mad that he just took off? You couldn't imagine him leaving. He was basically the leader, he had saved you and who knows how many other people. Curling into a ball, you took a sip of water and tried to eat your energy bar. But, the thought of him leaving, stole your appetite. Where did the blanket come from? You gathered yourself, picking yourself up off the ground, comforter still wrapped around you and dragging on the floor. Approaching the group, you started to hear the conversation.

"--we tried!" Joe said, face scrunched up in anger, "I don't know what else you want from me."

"But maybe if you tried again from a different spot!" Gary yelled back, "Like up on the hill or from the top of a building!" You guessed that Joe had tried to call for help and failed.

"Look, it's not going to make a difference. There is no signal-- anywhere." Joe spat, defeat in his eyes. You approached, standing next to Maggie, not saying a word. It would probably be best to let the men hash it out instead of getting involved. 

"I tried the radios at the police station," Freddie said, "Nothing but static. Maybe some one should stay there and keep trying." 

"I'll do it," said Joe, "I don't like it around here anyways." He huffed and grabbed a few water bottles, staring at Gary. So much hostility, maybe it was for the best. He shook Freddie's hand and disappeared through the door, almost knocking shoulders with Adam who jumps out of the way to avoid the collision. Stella was at his heels barking at the passing man. He was back. All of your fears melted away as he ran over and hugged you, picking you up off your feet. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered in your ear. "I shouldn't have gotten so mad."

"It's ok," you whispered back, "Thank you for the blanket."

He held you there for a while, being in his arms was like being wrapped tightly in a blanket, fresh out of the drier. He could break you if he really wanted to. But, it was comforting. It was like he knew you were scared. 

He had gone out in the middle of the night to look for more supplies. He was able to scrounge up a few blankets and pillows along with enough food to last you a week. You were so grateful that he didn't leave you alone. That he did't leave you to fend for yourself in a world that had come crashing down around you.

He told you to close your eyes and placed you down on your feet. You covered your eyes with the comforter and you felt him open your hand and place something there. You pulled the blanket off from over your face and looked down. Instant coffee. You almost cried. This was exactly what you needed to keep up morale. You hugged him and squealed. His face lit up with a smile. Going back to the cart, he pulled out a plastic cup and handed it to you along with a bottle of water. There was no creamer, but you would never stick your nose up at coffee.

After two days of nothing but bars and water, the coffee was amazing. There was no way to warm it up, but that was ok, it was almost iced coffee. Opening your eyes after you took a long drink, you realized every one was looking at you. With a big smile, you handed the coffee mix to Maggie, whose eyes lit up at the sight of it. Finally, something to make every one a little bit more happy.


	9. And They All Fall Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thought you were safe? That's cute.

The day went by quickly. Tyler was still unconscious, but now his heartbeat had stabilized and his color had returned. The children were still clinging to Maggie and Gary had made them a blanket fort to lay in. Joe and Freddie were trying to use the walkie talkies to call for help with no avail. You had taken the first aid materials and patched every one up to the best of your ability. 

Maggie and Gary were more or less in perfect condition, Adam had a wound on his neck caused by fire, the children had a few bumps and bruises, Joe had scrapes on his legs and a burn on his hand, and Freddie had a cut on his arm that looked a little infected. Good thing they had found the antibiotic cream at the police station. 

Once every one had been taken care of, you regrouped with Adam so he could look at the wound on your shoulder. It was sore, but not throbbing or oozing. He sat you down on the bench and went over to the pile of supplies to find something to patch you up. The wound was on the back of your shoulder near the shoulder blade, so you knew you would probably have to take your shirt off. Your cheeks grew red at the though of it. 

He sat behind you on the bench, examining you. You pulled your shirt half way up to try to give him access, wincing as the dried blood pulled at your skin. It was just enough to expose your tender flesh to the air. There was one thing you hadn't thought of while searching for supplies: new clothes. You couldn't keep wearing the same bloody shirt, it was disgusting. 

He placed his hand on your lower back, right above your hip. You felt him pour water cold water over your burn, cooling it. Goosebumps raised all over your body and you weren't sure if it was from the water or his touch. He slowly moved his hand up your side and brushed your hair out of the way. You felt a cloth gently wipe your wound, drying it. Next came the antibiotic ointment; cold but soothing. You felt yourself melt a little at its touch. Adam was gentle, moving his fingers in small circles, spreading the ointment over the entire wound. Placing a bandage over the area, he helped you pull your shirt back down. 

"We should find you a new shirt." He said turning you around to face him, "I think I could use one too." He motioned towards his own ripped shirt, barely hanging on. Not that you were complaining, his muscles were glistening with sweat in the sunlight. He caught you looking and laughed. 

"We could check the houses again," You said, ripping your eyes away. "Or I bet the school has gym clothes or a lost and found. We haven't really explored yet to see what's here."

"I'll join you if you're going to look around," Freddie said, "I love exploring."

The three of you decided to make a plan. You were going to look for clothes, food, water, and anything else that may come in handy. You had the idea to look for a science classroom to see if they had any alcohol for cleaning wounds. Adam mentioned looking for a home economics room to see if they had any food. All Freddie could talk about was finding the locker room so he could take a shower. No one wanted to break it to him that no power equals no water. 

The three of you took off towards a door near the one you entered the gym originally by. Adam went first, just to be safe. The door opened to a women's locker room, or what was left of one. The lockers were mostly hanging open and there was a large gaping hole in the wall, once again going straight through to the basement. As you passed it, you stole a peek into the hole. The meteorite had gone through the basement floor and directly into a pipe. There were a few feet of water covering the basement floor. It didn't seem to be rising, but it could present as a problem later, depending on how long you would be there for. 

Freddie's dreams were crushed as he tried one of the faucets on the other side of the lockers. No water, not even a drop. But, that was the least of your problems. You had enough bottled water to last for a while. You really needed to look for clothes, it was getting cold at night and every one had torn up clothing. The blankets help, but you really need to get out of your bloody tank top. 

There was a pile of towels, mostly unharmed in a basket near the showers. The meteorite had just missed it, burning the side of the wicker basket. You pick it up and return to the door, pushing it through and deciding to come back to it later. 

Adam was looking through lockers, mostly empty except a couple with some clothes. He throws you a shirt, it was a little big but clean and undamaged. It was blue with the school's name written on the front. You slipped it on over your tank top and thanked him. 

After some more searching, you found a pair of black shorts to replace your leggings and a shirt for Freddie. He looked ridiculous in a women's size shirt, but he didn't complain. Adam was out of luck, nothing there was going to fit him unless he wanted to look even more hilarious. Anyways, guys in crop tops was a thing now, you giggled to yourself. 

Freddie gathered the rest of the clothes into a bundle and put them with the towels. There was nothing left in the locker room for you. You weren't expecting much considering there were no children there at night. Hopefully the classrooms had more to offer. You had high hopes for the science room, at least. 

The door at the far side of the locker room was hanging off the hinges, but it was open just enough so you could all squeeze through with out having to remove it. The hallway on the other side was fairly long and lined with lockers and doors on either side. These must be the classrooms. 

Freddie ran forward to start looking in rooms. A misstep forced his foot through the laminated floor and into the space below. You had to be careful where you stepped. Holes covered the ceiling letting in rods of light that were scattered all over the ground. It looked like a post-apocalyptic rave. He pried his foot out of the floor and looked around to see a safe place to step next. Who knew how stable the floor actually was? You could fall into the basement if you weren't careful. 

You all slowly ease across the floor avoiding holes and cracks. It took some time, but you finally reached the first door on the left. It was a normal class room: desks, white board, and books. Nothing that looked important. There was a globe on the floor, but you had no use for something like that. 

The next few steps were nerve racking, there were papers scattered across the floor and you had to either step around them or guess what was safe. You got about half way across the hallway when you felt the floor creak under your weight. Freddie was already at the door and Adam was behind you, making sure you didn't fall. 

One more step and you felt yourself being lifted into the air. Automatically closing your eyes, you heard a loud crashing sound and a yelp and found yourself suspended and squeezed by Adam's arms. 

"Freddie!" Adam yelled as you fought to free your face so you could see. A massive hole had opened up in the floor and swallowed Freddie whole. Adam let you go and you fell to your knees looking over the edge. Adam wrapped his hands around your hips to make sure you didn't fall. 

Freddie was lying there in the pile of rubble on the basement floor. Moaning and rolling in place, he grabbed his leg in pain. You couldn't tell if he was alright from that far away, but you could tell he was hurting. Adam pulled you back towards him, holding you at your waist. Looking at him, he read the worry on your face and gave you a squeeze. 

"We have to find a way down there," you said, trying to center yourself before you started crying from the shock. "He looks hurt." 

Without saying a word, he kissed your forehead, and helped you to your feet. There was something about being kissed on the forehead that was so compassionate, so reassuring and calming. He thought he almost lost you, he thought you were going to be the one to fall. 

Not knowing were to start looking for a stairwell, you went door to door, carefully plotting your next moves as to not create another cave in. It was slow and nerve racking, but the only way to stay alive. Adam held your hands from behind you, keeping an eye on every step you take. The floor was creaking with every move, sending sparks through your heart every time. 

The classrooms were mostly bare, nothing worth opening the door for. Anyways, that wasn't your goal any more. You were almost to the end of the hallway when you found a door that looked out of place. There was no window and it seemed a lot heavier. 

Adam reached for the door knob and twisted, opening it up to a stairwell. Finally, you thought. It was pitch black, no holes in the walls and undamaged stairs. They looked like they were solid concrete. You took a deep breath and disappeared into the back abyss.


	10. Crimson Academy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You got to the basement, but now what? You didn't know what condition Freddie was in, or if you could even get to him.

Once the door closed, you were swallowed by darkness. You felt Adam's hand gripping your shoulder as you descended the stairs into the damp basement, helping you feel secure. You had no idea what you were walking in to. You remembered the flooding and found yourself gritting your teeth, waiting for your feet to enter the cold water. 

As you reach the bottom, you pause to look around. There were rays of light piercing the cold darkness like spears. It was just enough light to make out some of your surroundings. The room had about a foot underwater littered with floating debris. A door at the far side of the room hung open off the hinges. There were shelves on both sides of the room with various cleaning supplies and boxes. 

One problem: you didn't know exactly where Freddie was. You could follow the doors all you could and you knew the general direction, but you didn't even know if this section of the school connected to the part he had fallen into. 

You took the first step into the frigid water. Chills shot up your leg and up your spine. But you plunged your other foot in after it to lessen the shock of feeling it twice. Regretting wearing your shoes for this task, you shuffle forward to give Adam room to follow. Once you are both in the water, you stand in silence. Desperately trying to listen for anything hinting at Freddie's location. All you could hear was a distant dripping and creaking coming from the ceiling. Considering that so far there was only one way to go so you both waded through the water towards the door. 

"It's ok," Adam whispers, almost afraid to break the eerie silence. "We're going to find him." It was all the reassurance you needed you enter the second room. You had to find him. You couldn't handle any more death. No more tragedy. 

The next room was well lit, with a large chunk taken out of the ceiling. Looking up you could see what remained of a classroom, a desk overturned, caught on a piece of frayed linoleum. The hole underneath was illuminated, though you were unsure how deep it was. You find yourself leaning over and examining it, something blue was shining back at you. It was like a diamond amidst all of the ugly. It was mesmerizing. So much so that you felt yourself tipping. 

"Woah," Adam said, catching you by your waist and putting you back up on your feet. "Be careful."

"I'm sorry. I could have sworn there was something down there." You said, turning around and looking up at him. He does not release your hips, he just hold you there. Planting a kiss on your forehead, he smiled and looked up to examine the room again. It had two doors. One closed, and one about a foot open to reveal a big empty room with lockers on one side. 

Adam slowly approached the open door, placing his hands on either side. It looked safe enough, but there was only one door; the one Adam was looking through. That leaves you one choice: the ominous closed door. While Adam was still looking through the other door, you reached your hand out to touch the knob. 

Turning it and pulling, something fell out of the room, pushing you back and down into the water. You screamed, but it was silenced by water flooding your mouth and nose. You landed hard on your hip and your head hit the floor with a dull thud. It was heavy and unforgiving, weighing you down into the black water. 

Almost immediately, you felt a hand around your wrist, pulling you up into the light above you. Choking, you wrapped yourself around Adam as soon as you could breathe. Drawing in long shuddering breaths, you felt tears explode from your eyes.

"I have you," He said, "Don't look."

But, you couldn't help yourself. Once you were back on your feet, you turned around to glance at what had just threatened your life. Looking back at you, floating in the jet-black water, was a face. You jumped back into Adam, shrieking at the shock of what your eyes rested on. 

His eyes were an eerie blue eyes were stuck in place. Skin peeling, exposing grey muscle underneath, body riddled with holes, leaking black, viscus fluid. His lips were parted, showing broken, yellow teeth. His body was mangled, contorted into a strange position like he was trying shield his face from something. 

"Oh my god," You whispered, "He must have been down here with the shower happened."

Adam pulled you away and sat you down on an overturned crate as far away from the body as possible. He took a large tarp that was hanging next to it and covered the body. He then pushed it through the water, out of the way of the door. Returning to you, he held out his hand and took yours. You had caught your breath enough to stand. 

"Are you ok?" He asked, studying your face. "You look a little pale."

"Not as pale as him..." You stepped towards the door with little hesitation; the need to get out of that room and away from the body was fierce. Blocking the powerful feeling of dread and embarrassment engulfing you, you push forward, into the strange room. 

It was a large room, filled with soggy boxes and stacks of fold-up chairs. There were packing peanuts floating in the water and concentrating around the door at the other side. You stopped feeling the cold, all you could think about now was finding Freddie so you could get out of the basement and back to your bed.

You both stopped suddenly. The sound of groaning reached your ears from the room ahead of you. Like you were just hit with a lightning, you ran towards the door with excitement. This was it: you found him. Hopefully he was ok. 

You paused at the door. Last time you opened one, a body tried to drown you. Adam walked past you and turned the knob and opened the door into the large room. Freddie was in the middle of the room, laying in a pile of broken floor. It was tall enough to keep him dry. There was floating debris all around him, making it hard to advance to check on him. 

"Freddie!" You yelled. "Are you ok?" You moved boards and insulation bit by bit, making a path to him. He was still groaning and holding his leg. 

"I think i messed up my leg," It was leaking blood onto the boards underneath him and fading away into the murky water. Not knowing how bad it was, you were filled with urgency. He was in a lot of pain, so you crossed your fingers as you approached him. You weren't equipped to treat a bad injury. 

Gritting your teeth, you reached the collapsed debris. You reached out a hand and moved his to the side to examine his laceration. It was on his calf, about 2 inches under the knee. Two inches long, and roughly a centimeter deep but it didn't look like it had hit anything crucial. 

"You're ok," You said in a calming voice, "Your'e cut but it's not unmanageable."

"Really?" He squeaked, "I'm not dying?"

"No, your'e not dying." Adam laughed as he took some clean-looking rags off a shelf and approached Freddie. "We just need to stop the bleeding and get you out of here."

You worked together to pack the wound and wrap it to the best of your abilities. Adam swooped him up and held him like a gigantic baby. You couldn't help but giggle at the sight of them. Freddie had a look in his eyes, hinting at the fact that he was seconds from passing out. Good thing you were headed back to the stairs.

It was going to be a long trip back considering the hallway was too dangerous to walk through while carrying some one. You needed to find another way back, but that wasn't going to be easy. You had to no idea how to navigate the rest of the school. Maybe if you found an exit you could walk around to the door to the gym. 

If you could get there without the school killing you.


	11. T is for Trauma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddie is unconscious and in need of medical attention, but who knows what stands between you and safety.

Emerging from the door at the top of the stairs, you only had one option: if you kept going down the hall, about 15 feet away, there were double doors leading to another hallway. This one had no lockers, only doors, and an exit sign hanging from the ceiling before a turn.

Adam held the unconscious body of Freddie, who looked weirdly peaceful, like he was sleeping. Blood loss had made him pale faced and weak, so the sooner you got him back to Maggie, the better. Adam held him tight, so he didn't drop him while navigating the holes in the floor. 

You opened the door for him and stood aside so he could carry Freddie through the door. It used to have big glass windows with latticed wire on the inside, but had been hit with something, causing the glass to shatter, but stay in place due to the wires. 

The hallway looked safe enough with only a hand full of holes in the floor and ceiling, but you couldn't be too careful. You took small foot steps, feeling for creaking between each one. You couldn't afford another trip to the basement, not while Freddie was bleeding. With Adam carrying him, you had to lead to make sure the floor wasn't going to give out, sending them into the dark abyss below. 

Around the corner another door stood before you. Again with the broken glass, frozen in place. You pushed it open revealing what used to be a cafeteria. Large, round tables were set up throughout the room with scattered chairs, thrown about by the meteorites. Some of the tables were missing legs, some of the chairs were demolished. But, for the most part, it seemed secure. 

For the first time, you were able to let your guard down. The cafeteria was in the same shape as the gym. If they couldn't use the gym any more, this would be a good alternative. There was a door leading outside to your left, but you couldn't help but he intrigued by the kitchen. They could have food in there. Or even a gas stove that may still be working. But that could wait, you needed to get Freddie to the gym. 

"We can come back for it." Adam said, basically reading your mind about the kitchen. He was right, for all you knew, you could have all the time in the world. 

It was dusk, and growing darker quickly; sunset barely kissing the horizon. This was the first time you didn't have to carefully look where you were going, so it took a few steps to adjust. You picked up the pace and turned the corner around the building, hoping to see something familiar. 

One more turn and you finally found it, 3 overturned shopping carts and big double doors leading into the gym. The second you opened the door, Stella erupted with barks and whines, bee-lining to Adam. Freddie was placed on a thin blanket with a pillow under his head by Maggie, who immediately took to caring for him. She worked her magic with the towels you had found in the locker room and wrapped his leg ten times better than you were able to do while Gary tried to get him to drink some water. 

You collapsed onto your comforter, pulling your pillow in close. You wanted to erase the memories of today. Better yet, you wanted to erase the memories of the past 72 hours. Nothing could take away the pain of losing your entire life as you knew it or all of the loss and death surrounding you. 

With so much going on, you hadn't even thought about what could be going on with your family. You parents lived in California with your younger sister and you moved to Minnesota to get away from them. Your father was a lawyer, who drank himself to sleep almost daily. Your mother worked at the hospital as a nurse, causing her to have long hours. She was never home much, but it wouldn't have mattered. The only person your mother cared about was your sister. 

Your attention was redirected as some one touched your arm and sat down beside you. Looking up, you saw Adam holding a bottle of water, a small bag of chips, and a bag of beef jerky. You were so out of it that you hadn't realized you had started crying. You wiped your tears and thanked him as he took a seat beside you. 

You had no appetite, but knew you needed something in your stomach. You hadn't eaten anything since breakfast; if you could call it that. You were shaking, not knowing if it was from exhaustion or malnutrition. Honestly, by the looks of it, you should probably get used to that. 

Darkness was creeping over the gym, there was officially no point in trying to do anything else. All you wanted was sleep; a hard reset on your brain. With Stella on one side of you and Adam on the other, you felt safe. You pulled a blanket over you and put your arm over Stella. You had always loved dogs, yet your parents never let you have one. 

Adam placed his arm over your side, pulling you close to his chest. It was the comfort you had been searching or all day. You could feel his breath on your neck, and his chest on your back was rising and falling in sync. You placed your hand over his and intertwined your fingers. Letting yourself drift off to sleep.

Your dreams were vivid. You were at your family cabin with your parents and sister. Sitting by the lake was your happy place in life, solely because you had found a beach about half way around that you never told any one about. You were secluded and alone, just how you liked it. Across the lake, you could see you parents and sister on the dock, laughing and having fun while they fished. A part of you knew that wouldn't be the case if you had joined them. Better to watch from afar. 

Laying in the sun, you closed your eyes, taking in all the sounds of the forest and splashing water. The sun felt amazing, beaming down on your body, warming you to the core. But something felt--off. At that moment you realized the world had gone quiet. Not even a cricket was present. 

You abruptly opened your eyes, looking up at the sky. It had turned purple and dark, angrily staring back at you. Bolting upright, you took in your surroundings. Your family was gone, even though you could hear your sister giggling just moments before. There wasn't as much as a ripple on the water's surface; it was like glass. 

Standing up, you took off full speed down the path you had made, leading back to the cabin. Something was seriously wrong. Rounding the corner, the cabin was in sight. No trace of your parents or sister; the cars weren't even there any more. You were completely alone. 

Then you heard it: crashing all around you, balls of fire were threatening your existence. The dock was hurled up into the air, almost making contact with your shoulder before crashing into the ground next to you. Flames exploded up from the tench left behind by the dock, enveloping you as you let out a desperate scream. 

You sat up straight in your nest, shrieking like the meteor shower was happening all over again. Realizing where you were, you clapped your hands over your mouth as Adam sat up to hold you. Wrapping his strong arms around you, you both sat there for what felt like an hour as you shook and cried. Stella started licking your hand, trying to comfort you. 

The world was very different now, so many uncertainties and questions to be asked. But no one was there to answer. The only thing you could do was try to survive, if your new world would let you.


	12. Our Old Friend, Death

You woke up in Adam's arms, eyes stinging from crying the night before. He had held you tight to ease the pain of your nightmare. Stella was laying at your feet, guarding you both as you slept. She let out a few little snores, but roused when you moved your feet. She took her spot next to you, focused on her sleeping owner. 

Adam had one arm under your head, acting as your pillow, and one resting on your waist. His hair was hiding his face, but shifting with every breath. You didn't want to wake him, but you could tell it was well past morning, judging by the light flooding the gym. You really wanted to check out the kitchen today, hoping there was something useful. 

You brushed the hair out of his face with your finger tips and rested them on his cheek. He Scrunched up his eyes and let out a small groan. Your hand wandered to his hair, which was surprisingly still soft after days of no showers. You were face to face, watching him slowly wake. Blinking a few times, he smiled, looking over at you.

He didn't bring up your nightmare, and you really appreciated that. You didn't want to relive the pain that consumed you. Anyways, it wouldn't change anything, it was just depressing. You put it out of your mind, just enjoying being in Adam's warm embrace. 

He brushed your hair out of your face and pulled you close. And you stayed there, cherishing your warm, comforting cocoon. You were both hungry, but not enough to face the world yet. It wasn't until Stella started barking at Adam for breakfast, that you both forced yourselves to sit up and look around. 

The kids were grouped around Gary, listening to him tell a story and snacking on bags of chips and juice boxes. Joe and Freddie sat on the bleachers, laughing and talking loudly, which was a surprising change in morale. It was almost normal. You wondered about the people on the hill. Had any one checked on them? 

Your eyes continued around the room, landing on Maggie. She was on her knees in front of Tyler. They had made him a bed near their own spot to keep an eye on him. You felt a strong need to check on him as you realized that you left him in Maggie's hands for the past few days. 

At that moment, you saw her pull his sheet up over his head and wipe a tear from her eye. Panicking, you bolted out of bed and ran full speed towards them. That can't mean what you think it means. It just can't. 

Throwing yourself on the ground beside him you grabbed for the sheet and yanked. There he was: eyes wide open and frozen in place, cheeks sunken and hollow looking, chapped lips curled into an eerie smirk. 

"What happened?" You squeaked. He didn't look that bad when you handed him off to Maggie. His face was a little messed up, but you couldn't see anything fatal. Maybe he had some sort of internal injury; something you couldn't see. 

Maggie patted you on the shoulder and and left you alone to grieve. You took his hand in yours. It was still a little warm, but the cold embrace of death was creeping through him. The one tie to your former life was gone, stolen by your deadly new reality. 

You took your time, no tears came. You felt more betrayed by your sense of security than anything. All you could do was examine him, looking for answers. His skin had tuned a pale green, which was peculiar, but you didn't question it. You had never been so close to a dead body on purpose before. The veins on his arms stood up, like vines spread over the earth. 

His eyes were the most curious part. They were bright blue, almost glowing. He had blue eyes when he was alive, but there was something about them that was unsettling. You pictured your last conversation at the diner. He was joking around with you but keeping eye contact the entire time. His eyes were blue, but a little green as well. There was no green any more. It was like his eyes were made of ice. 

Eventually Adam came and took a seat next to you. No one spoke, you just sat next to each other in silence, staring at Tyler'd lifeless body. You had no idea how much time had passed when Adam took the sheet and covered his face, hiding his creepy blue eyes. He took your hand and helped you to your feet. 

"Are you ok?" He asked, taking your hand in his and turning you away from Tyler. 

"I think so." You replied. But honestly, you had no idea. You were a little worried about how you didn't feel the need to cry. Maybe your were in shock; maybe all you had seen in the past 72 hours had broken something in you. 

Adam took the body and put it in the locker room until you were able to figure out what to do with him. You didn't have a shovel to bury him, and you protested when Joe mentioned putting him with the rest of the bodies on the hill. So in order to separate yourselves from him, but not leave him to the elements, you compromised by wrapping him in a blanket and placing him in the showers. 

You forced yourself to eat something as you had started to shake again. Before the meteor shower, you would forget to eat regularly and would sometimes go a whole day before starting to shake and needing a meal. It was a problem then, but maybe a blessing now?

"Do you want to check out the kitchen?" Adam asked, trying to take your mind off it. It would be a good distraction and a way to get out of the gym for a while. Nodding, you took his hand and let him lead you to the door. 

It was a beautiful day outside and you wished you could enjoy it, but a weight hung over you. You drew no joy from the chirping birds or the rays of sun bouncing off your skin. Adam's skin was glistening from sweat since he moved Tyler making him look almost angelic. You could only imagine what you looked like now with messy hair and dirty clothes. The thought made you shudder. 

The sun was right over head. You guessed it was about noon, or at least, mid day. The short walk around the building let you get a pretty good look at the town. The bodies had been moved to a pile about a hundred yards away from the school. You weren't sure who did it but your bet was on Gary, trying to keep the children away from them. 

Adam opened the door and motioned for you to enter. It looked the same as the other day, even down to the trail of blood left by Freddy's dripping wound which had turned black with time. A few tables and chairs were unharmed; they would be nice to bring back to the gym.

You made your way to the double doors leading to the kitchen, Adam trailing behind, taking slow steps to avoid the holes. You tripped over some rubble and righted yourself without Adam's help. You already felt weak, as much as you loved when he took care of you, you couldn't handle it right now. 

Entering the kitchen, you felt hopeful. Shelves of canned food stood before you and most of the cans were still intact. There were pots and pans that would come in handy if some one back at the gym could make a fire, and a large selection of knives. You gathered them and put them in a pot along with some other cooking utensils. Maybe they would come in handy. You both react by whipping around as some one opens the door to the kitchen behind you. It was Joe accompanied by one of the shopping carts to help bring things back to your camp. 

"Thought you two could use some help." He said, bending over to grab some of the canned food. You had been wondering how you were going to bring it all back, so you accept his help gratefully. 

"Thanks, Joe," You forced a smile and brought over the pot with the knives and placed it in the cart. You were able to scrounge up about 20 cans of food, consisting of mostly vegetables and sauce, a bunch of boxed noodles and some bread that hadn't gone bad yet. Not the score you were hoping for, but at least it's something. 

Night came on quickly, you hadn't even noticed the light shining through the holes had changed color. You could feel fatigue washing over you as you turned to Adam and motioned towards the door. You had gathered all there was to find and filled your cart. Now you had enough food for the group for at least a week or two. 

When you got back to the gym, every one was laying down or getting ready for bed. You followed suit and sat down on your comforter. Your body hurt like you had been hit by a bus. Dehydration was very apparent, so you drank some water before closing your eyes and snuggling up to Adam and Stella. Nothing was keeping you from allowing your eyes to close, and accepting the defeat that was sleep. 

A creaking sound in the silent gym was enough to wake you. Adam had turned over in his sleep and was facing away from you, Stella on the other side of him. You were cold, so you sat up to reach for more blankets. Footsteps echoed from somewhere across the gym. But, they didn't sound right. It sounded like something was on all fours and pacing back and fourth along the wall. Letting your eyes adjust for a moment, you stayed as still as possible, trying to focus on the cause of the noise. If something had got in, it could go after the food or hurt some on. 

Then you saw it, two bright blue orbs, bouncing up and down in the distance, occasionally disappearing and reappearing a second later. Eyes, you thought, some one--some thing was watching you from the darkness. Every time you blinked, they looked closer. You were frozen in fear wanting to wake Adam or Stella, but finding yourself unable to move. 

You finally found the courage to move your head, turning it towards Adam. A scream caught in your throat as you looked up and came face to face with the glowing blue eyes. They were now attached to a figure. You couldn't make it out before you felt searing pain and an explosion of blood on the side of your head, causing the world to go dark.


	13. Descent into Maddness

Dripping. Dripping water on your--face? The world was fuzzy and spinning in fast circles, nudging you towards the edge of nausea. You try to blink away the blur, but your lashes were sticking on one side, adding to the struggle. You could hear loud, raspy breathing coming from something near by, but you couldn't focus, every time you composed a thought, it was ripped away from you. 

Something touched your arm. It was cold and rough, scratching you as it moved from your shoulder your elbow. The sensation jolted you awake and you shot your eyes open. The memory of the blue orbs floating in the dark, flooded your head and you focused your eyes on the wall in front of you. 

Whatever touched you was gone, giving you a chance to take in your surroundings. A cage? There were bars separating you from the wall, which was painted blue with very little damage. You tried to move, but your arms were being held with a rope attached to the bars behind you. Your surroundings made no sense to you. Where was there a cage in town?

You saw a bench next to you connected to the side of the cage. Then it dawned on you: the police station! You hadn't gone with Joe and Freddie when you were looking for supplies or else you would have remembered it. 

You were cold; freezing actually. Your clothes were bloodied and ripped, hanging off you like destroyed curtains. The blinding, white hot pain resonating from the side of your head made it hard to worry about why you were there. All you could remember were those eyes. Those glowing blue eyes staring at you from the darkness. 

You ripped yourself back to reality, realizing what had just happened to you. The face beyond the eyes was Tyler. But how? You watched him die. His cold skin and stiff body laid in front of you on the gym floor. But his eyes, they were that same ice-blue. 

You struggled against your restraints, trying to pull your wrists free. They seemed to be tightening the more you pulled. Panic starting to set in, you knew you had to save your energy, but all you wanted was to be free. I wasn't until a noise brought you back to reality that you realized you were rubbing your wrists raw, and not making any progress.

It took you a moment to figure out what you were hearing through the ringing in your ear from the blow to the head. It was faint, coming from behind you. Laughing? Why would some one be laughing at a time like this? A sort of shuffling sound brought he source into focus. 

The bony, hunched figure came into view. It was almost unrecognizable that it had once been human. Skin, once pale and freckled, was now streaked with green and black root-like markings. The only thing about it that was semi-recognizable was the mop of hair sitting on its hear. It was Tyler, or what was left of him.

Snickering, he brought his face up to meet yours. His cheeks were sunken in, eyes retreating into his skull, glowing irises piercing the dark between the two of you. The corners of his lips were curled up in a smile. You could see that he no longer ha all of his teeth, gaping bloody holes in their absence. 

"Tyler," You whispered, "What are you doing?" 

He only responded with a laugh. This was no longer Tyler. He would never treat you this way. Something inside of him had changed, or maybe he was a whole new being. 

His hand touched your arm, making you flinch. He was examining you, head to toe. His smile grew every time he reached an injury. Bits of blood and dirt covered his hand as he reached up and licked his fingers, savoring all of the gore. 

Everything part of your being told you to free your hands and run, but it was useless. With how close he was examining you, if you made any fast movements, you didn't know what he would do. This wasn't Tyler, you didn't know what this was, or what it was capable of. 

While you were going over every escape plan you could think of, you didn't even notice that he had a knife. You felt white-hot pain explode from your upper arm as you dragged the blade across your skin, finding the blood it was looking for. 

You buckle at the waist, trying to retreat from the pain. You didn't want to scream, as it may anger him. But you were finding it impossible. Tears streamed down your cheeks, landing on the floor below you. You had to fight back. But how?

"Why are you doing this?" You choked out and raised your head to face him. "I thought we were friends!" 

You saw him flinch a little at the sound of his name. Could he still be in there? His face went back to the resting grimace as before as he took the blade and licked your blood like it was icing. You didn't know why he wouldn't speak to you. If he was going to kill you, you at least want to know why. 

You closed your eyes as he brought the blade up to make contact with your cheek. Focusing on your hands, you found a sharp edge of the metal cage that could be the one way to save your own life. 

You let out a tiny gasp as Tyler pressed the knife int your cheek, drawing blood. You gave up on your plan to stay still and started to rub the rope on the sharp edge, as fast as you could. He had moved the blade from your cheek to your neck. You knew what was about to happen but you weren't going to give up. 

You heard your name being yelled from somewhere far away. They were looking for you. As you continued to try to free yourself, you screamed as loud as you possibly could, hearing it echo all around you, startling Tyler in the process. He stumbled back, dropping the knife. 

You pulled as hard as you could at your ropes, finally ripping them away and freeing you from the cell wall. Picking up the knife, you stood over Tyler, wishing that he would just stay down. But, luck was not on your side. He immediately sat back up and let out a deafening screech as he reached out for your legs. 

You swung the knife at his outstretched limbs, catching his wrist and slicing right through it. He didn't miss a beat, reaching with his other arm and catching the back of your leg, sending you back onto a sitting position on the ground by him, landing hard on your tailbone. 

There was no blood coming from his wrist, he still had full mobility and was reaching toward your face. A scream surfaced from your throat as he grabbed a hand full of your hair with one hand pulling you closer to him and pulling you on the ground in front of him. The other hand grabbed your wrist and squeezed, causing you to release the knife. It skid across the room and stopped 10 feet away.

Tyler dragged himself up onto his feet, not letting go of your hair. You were hoisted up in the air, facing him. His face had abandoned the grimace and adopted an furious frown. It was so unlike his face. 

He had your throat in the hand that you slashed. His grip unchanged from before you had cut it. Slamming you up against the wall behind you, he tightened his fingers, depriving you of oxygen. You could feel the room closing in on you, darkness invading your vision from all sides. One last look at his piercing blue eyes before you let your eyes close, and accepting your fate.

Before you lost consciousness, you heard voices, and two gun shots.


	14. Nocturnal Nemesis

There was no way you hadn’t lost some brain cells by now. You had been knocked out so many times that it was a miracle that you woke up with the ability to speak. Nonetheless, you woke up back in the gym with Maggie hovering over you, patting the wound on your head with a damp cloth. 

“What happened?” you mumble, taking the cloth from her and holding it on your head to dull the pain. “Where’s Tyler?”

“It’s alright,” She said, “Adam and Joe have him at the police station. He really did a number on you.” 

You took a moment to sit up and take a drink of water. You felt incredibly dehydrated and weak. Maggie had wrapped your wrists with bandages and dressed you in a black tank top with a pair of jeans shorts. It wasn’t one of the gym uniforms you had found, but you didn’t question it. They were clean and fit well. Much better than the ripped shirt and leggings you had on previously. 

Your mind was swimming. There was daylight now and you had no idea how long you had been out. What happened last night? And how? Tyler was dead, you watched him die, but somehow he had attacked you. But he wasn’t himself. He couldn’t speak and he would have never done that to you. 

Maggie handed you a cup containing warm coffee. It took you a second to realize that this was out of the ordinary. You took a long sip and closed your eyes, savoring the bitter bliss. You cupped it in your hands taking in the warmth. It felt amazing on your sore hands. 

“Gary was able to start a fire.” Maggie said, reading your mind. It was a God send. The warmth was just what you needed to perk up. You needed the strength to venture out and go to the police station. You needed answers. 

It took a little bit for you to get on your feet. Gravity was not on your side since you were hit on the head and nearly suffocated. Maggie took your arm and walked with you towards the door. She didn’t question your mission as you both walked through the door and made your way towards the station.

The walk took longer than you originally thought it would because you had to stop and take breaks when your head started to hurt too bad. Maggie kept pace with you, holding you up and guiding you in the right direction. 

The doors to the station had large, cracked glass windows. Beyond them, you could see a desk, covered with scattered papers and a couple large burn marks. There was a strange smell in the air like blood and decay. You didn’t want to know where the smell originated.   
Maggie led you through a series of doors, stepping over broken objects and rubble. There was a door at the end of a short hallway. It was closed, but you could hear voices coming from behind it. They sounded angry.

“It almost killed her! Why would you want to keep it alive?” It was Adam. He was arguing with someone. 

“We need to figure out why! He already died, Adam.” It was Joe. 

You ran to the door and pushed it open. It was the room with the cell that you had been trapped in when Tyler kidnapped you. You pushed the memories to the back on your mind and entered. Joe was sitting on a chair in the corner with a gun in his hand. He looked troubled when you entered as if deciding whether or not to point the gun at you. Adam jumped up off his chair and stepped in front of you. 

“Really dude?” He said to Joe, “You want to put the gun down?”

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m a little on edge.”

“You should get some sleep.” Maggie said from behind you. She had a point, he looked like a zombie. Dark circles under his eye and a glazed look made him look even older. He needed a rest. He picked up his gun, handing it to Adam begrudgingly. 

At first, it seemed like the cage was empty. But as you scanned it, you found a figure curled up in the corner. It was almost transparent, you could see veins and organs, as if suspended by jelly. It had no hair or clothes. 

It was Tyler. Was Tyler. It no longer resembled the boy you knew from the diner. He was now something completely foriegn; something resembling a jellyfish. His eyes were closed, but you could still see his creepy blue eyes through the eyelids. It was one of the most unsettling things you had ever seen in your life.

“Is he..” You whispered. 

“I don’t know.” Adam turned to him, concern on his face. “When Joe shot him, he went down. But didn’t bleed. He stayed down, so we went in to get you. But he started grabbing at our legs.”

“Thank you,” You said, looking into his eyes. You could see anger and concern on his face. “You saved me.” 

“You helped,” He smiled a little. You could tell he was fighting off the urge to kiss you, but Maggie was standing very close, hold you up still. You appreciated her, she was always there to help and tend to the wounded.   
“Why does he look like that?” You asked. When you last saw him, his color was there, except his skin was streaked with black and green.

“After we got you out, we closed the door on him and I held it closed until Joe could find the key. He pounded in the door for hours. But, after a while, as the sun came up, he started slowing down.” He said, looking as confused as you, “He slumped back into the corner and closed his eyes. Then he started to lose color.”

“Lose color?” You asked. 

“It was like the color was just draining out of him, it faded quickly and left him like this. I honestly don’t know what’s going on.”

“And he hasn't moved?” You asked.

“Not a muscle. We have even thrown stuff at him, he just let it bounce off.” Adam motioned at the things on the floor, surrounding him. A notebook, a couple pens, and even a stapler were on the ground in front of him. 

You approached the cage, placing your hands on the bars, examining Tyler. You didn’t even know if he could be called Tyler any more. Was it going to wake back up? Was it dead? You had no idea. But you knew one thing: you couldn’t trust it. 

You took Joe’s chair and sat down facing Adam. You needed answers and none of this helped you in the slightest. The answers you got only led to more questions and those questions were not going to be answered any time soon. All you could do was sit and wait.


	15. Approaching the Gates of Hell

Maggie left the two of you, presumably returning to the gym. You sat there with Adam for what felt like an eternity. Seconds tuned into minutes; minutes turned into hours. All you could do was stare at the creature. It seemed to be breathing, but how? You slashed it’s wrist and Joe shot it twice. 

You stopped trying to find reason in it. You just wanted to know why. Why did it kidnap you and attack you? Why didn’t it just kill you in the gym? Nothing made sense, but that seemed to be the case for everything recently. 

Eventually, Maggie returned with some food and water. You had been watching the creature with such intensity that you had forgotten to eat anything. She handed you a can of warm soup without saying a word.

Maggie didn’t talk much, Gary usually did most of the talking. But Maggie was always there when you needed her. Like how you wished your mother was. Something about her made you feel safe, and cared for. 

Once she gave you both of your meals, she came and sat next to you. Looking into your eyes, she smiled. It was such a kind smile that you couldn’t help but smile back. 

“I had a daughter like you.” Her words caught you off guard. What did she mean, had? “She was such a strong girl. I used to tell her how important it was to take care of yourself before you take care of others. Because if you use all your energy on them, what do you have for yourself?”

“You're right,” you whispered, looking down at your soup. “I just need answers, ya know?”

“I understand that. And you will.” She took your hand in hers and patted the top with the other. Then she slowly got up, and walked back out the door. 

The sun was starting to go down, letting beautiful purple light flood the room. You looked over at Adam, who looked like he was starting to doze off. Gun still pointed at the creature, he was trying his best to stay awake.

“You can take a nap if you want.” You said as he bobbed his head for the 5th time. “I can watch him.”

“No, it’s ok. I don’t want to leave you.” He reached over to take your hand and gave it a squeeze. He wasn't going anywhere. You felt bad for not speaking to him all day, but your mind had been occupied. 

He placed his gun on the floor next to him and pulled you to your feet and onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around you and held you tight. You wanted to cry, but you had cried so much in the past couple of days that your eyes just felt dry and sticky. You closed your eyes and buried yourself in his arms. Maybe you could just take a short nap. What’s the worst that could happen?

“Wake up,” You heard Adam, whisper. You must have fallen asleep. The room was now dark with rays of moonlight streaking in through the high windows, “I think I heard something.”

Looking around, you couldn’t see that anything was moving. You could hear the dripping that woke you the night prior, when you had to fight for your life. You scanned the room, trying to find the source of any sort of noise. 

Just when you thought Adam must have been hallucinating, you heard it. A shuffling sound that sounded eerily familiar. You couldn’t place it until it came into view completely. It was the one thing you feared most at this point of time.

Looking back at you from the other side of the cage, the glowing, ice blue eyes hovered, seemingly in mid air. The creature was awake, and sizing you up. Your eyes focused and you jumped up out of Adam’s lap and plastered yourself against the wall behind you. 

Adam stood in front of you, between you and the creature. He pointed the gun and waited for it to make a move. But it just stood there. Hunched over and breathing rapidly, arms stretched out between the bars, reaching for you. 

Past the eyes, you could see through his translucent skin to his skull. There were channels of black and green weaving through his jelly-like skin. Its appearance was shocking, like some kind of science experiment. 

You were in a standoff, no one moved. Frozen in fear, you didn’t know what to do. If you moved, would it try to attack? Are you it’s prey? Or does he look at you as a threat? Once again, no answers. 

Without warning, the creature threw its head back and let out an ear piercing scream. You all jumped back, startled, covering your ears. The sound echoed through the room and into the hallway. Joe came running accompanied by Freddie into the room. 

Joe said something, but you couldn’t hear over the sound erupting from the monster’s throat. It began to make you dizzy. The room was slightly spinning and you had to grab Adam’s arm to keep from falling down. 

As abruptly as it started, it stopped. Head still facing the ceiling, it seemed to be waiting for something. You all stood still, staring at it with wide eyes. The scream had to have a purpose and you didn’t know if you wanted to stick around to find out what it was. As you take a step backwards, you feel a hand on your back. Adam was holding you back. Not knowing why, you look up at him, puzzled. 

“Listen,” he whispered. Your ears were ringing, but you tried your best to listen past it. Someone was coming down the hallway. Knocking things over their path. 

“Hello? Who’s there?” Joe said. There was no reply. It was at this moment that you realized that you had forgotten about the hill. If this had happened to Tyler, could it have happened to them? Looking around the room, you could tell that everyone else had just made the same realization. 

The figure came into focus at the end of the hall. It was a woman, or was a woman. Her clothes hung off her like rags and her hair had mostly fallen out. Her skin was like jelly and you could see the bones in her stretched out hand. 

Adam jumped in front of you and aimed the gun in her direction. She was about 20 feet away from you when he shot her. The sound was deafening, and the bullet had no effect. He shot her in the chest; in a place that would have killed her if she was a normal person.

Joe ran at her and pinned her against the wall. They were face to face with her hands pinned up above her head. She was snapping her teeth at his face and coming concerningly close. You and Adam ran behind him towards the lobby. If there were more coming, the last place you wanted to be was trapped in the cell. 

Joe waited for you to get past before he turned her towards the door and shoved her in, slamming the door behind her. She was screaming and clawing at the door, trying to get back to Joe. 

“Lock the doors!” He yelled. You and Adam took off, looking for each door to lock. Hopefully none of them had got in with the woman. 

The only door you really had to worry were the front doors. They were big and consisted of shattered glass and metal. The only way you found to seal them off was to turn the desk on its side and push it up against them. Even then, there were large gaps around the sides. 

You should hear the shuffling of feet and low grunts not too far away. You had no idea how many of them there were, but you were about to find out. It was going to be a very long night.


	16. Sacrifice

With your back's up against the desk, you could hear the screaming and clawing of the creatures on the other side of the door. You had your eyes closed, bracing yourself. A tear rolled down your cheek as you tried to think a way out of your current situation. 

Joe emerged from the hallway with a gun in one hand and a lighter in the other. He ran to you and placed himself in between you on the desk. You could tell his brain was going a million miles an hour, thinking through his next move. 

“I have a plan,” he yelled over the shrieks, “You two need to run out the back door!”

“What about you?” Adam yelled, concerned. “What are you going to do?”

“Don’t worry about me! Just get yourselves out!” 

That’s when you smelled the gas. It was like rotten eggs filling your lungs. You knew what he was planning now. But at what cost? Was he going to follow you? You forced the thought out of your mind, there was no changing his mind now and it was the only way out. You didn’t know what these creatures would do to you if they got your hands on you. 

You took a deep breath, clenched your fists, and the three of you ran. Almost immediately, the creatures pushed the desk an entire foot towards you. The edge caught your heel and sent you falling forward. You stumbled, but caught your balance and kept running full speed towards the back of the station. You were a few feet behind the men, trying to pick up speed to stay with them. Joe was in the lead, he had had a chance to explore, so he knew where he was going. 

You could hear them behind you, shuffling and knocking into walls. The screaming made your ears hurt and you could feel a headache erupting from behind your eyes. You didn’t know if it was from the noise or the gas. 

Joe got to the door first. He flung it open and Adam ran through it, looking back at you. Joe grabbed your arm and flung you into Adam’s arms. The two of you paused and looked back at Joe, willing him to follow you. But, instead, he smiled and closed the door behind you. You stumbled back into Adam. He threw his arms around you and made sure you kept moving. 

Joe never screamed, but you knew what was happening to him. You could only keep moving in order to outrun anything following you. Adrenaline was coursing through your veins, giving you tunnel vision. All you could think about was getting to safety. 

The explosion blew you forward onto your knees. The heat from the fire hit you in the back like a wrecking ball. But, you picked yourself up off the ground and kept running, not looking back. Nothing was going to stop you from getting to safety, not even the sensation of burning hair on your neck. 

Tears streaming down your face and eyes stinging from the smoke, you finally collapsed. Nothing was following you, Adam was the only person in sight. He wrapped his arms around you after he put out a small fire in your hair. It would have smelled terrible if your nasal passages weren’t singed. 

You both sat there for a while, riding out the shock. Maggie and Gary came running. You could tell they were saying something, but the blast had deafened you a little. All you could hear was a high pitched ringing. Maggie picked you up onto your feet and put an arm around you, guiding you back towards the school. You allowed her to direct you. All you wanted was to lay down. 

You had never lost any one before besides your grandparents, but that was from old age. No one you had ever known had passed too early. Thoughts of Joe and what he just did for you were swimming around your head, making you nauseous.

You paused for a moment and looked down at your feet. Maggie pulled on your arm lightly, trying to encourage you to keep moving. But, you couldn’t walk any further. Your nausea had got the best of you and you fell to your knees, vomiting on the ground before you. 

Supporting yourself with your arms, you sat there with your eyes closed. Joe just gave his life for you and Adam. He died for you. But why? What makes you so special for someone to kill themselves to save you? 

You felt yourself being picked up, once again. Adam cradled you in his arms, holding you tight. You let the sadness overcome you, bawling into Adam’s shirt. Is this what life was going to be like now? Death and pain? It was too much. 

You cried until you couldn’t produce tears any more. But your body kept trying even though you were dry. You had to stop Adam one more time to throw up on the side of the road before you got back to your home. 

Once inside, Adam set you on your comforter and handed you a bottle of water. Maggie sat next to you and wiped your face with a damp rag. When she pulled it away, it had turned red and grey with blood and soot. 

Your hearing was starting to come back, but everyone was silent. Freddie was sitting up in bed, looking over at us. Gary walked over to him to explain. The last thing you wanted to do was talk about what just happened. All you wanted was sleep. 

Maggie brought you some food, but your stomach hurt so bad that you couldn’t find the energy to lift the food to your mouth and you didn’t even know if you could keep it down, so it seemed pointless. 

You could see Freddie in a crumpled heap on the floor, crying. Gary was trying to console him. He had grown close with Joe over the past couple of days. They ate together, went on supplies runs together, and even slept near each other. His pain was contagious. 

You pulled the comforter over your head, blocking out the rest of the world. You could hear Freddie’s muffled crying and the children giggling in the distance. It was almost insulting, but they were just children, so you couldn’t hold it against them. They didn’t know better and no one had the heart to tell them to stop. 

You covered your ears and retreated into your own mind. You tried thinking about something happy, but you couldn’t think of anything past the trauma. Rocking back and forth, you couldn’t do anything but hum to yourself to drown out the sobbing. Fearing that you had officially lost your mind, you laid back on the ground, wishing for sleep. 

A few minutes later, you feel a slight tug on the comforter. It lifted up about a foot to reveal a face. 

“Can I come in?” It was Adam, laying on his back and looking up at you. 

“Sure,” you choked out. He slid in next to you followed by Stella, who was not as graceful. She Pushed past Adam and went directly into your lap, her face an inch away from yours. She was not a lapt dog, but you didn’t protest. 

Adam pulled you in to him, kissing you on the forehead. He was warm; you didn’t realize how cold you had been. You melted into him finally feeling the comfort that you needed. Stella licked you on the cheek and curled into a ball at your side. 

You smiled. You were alive. Adam was alive. You were surviving. Instead of letting the dreadful feeling of losing Joe completely consume you, you needed to focus on the present. And the present felt a lot safer in Adam’s arms. 

You knew you couldn’t stay at the school forever. And the creatures may have been the last straw. You didn't know where you were going to go, but it wasn’t safe here any more. You needed to find a permanent home, but nothing seemed permanent any more. Not even your lives.


	17. Runaways

You woke up to daylight shining in your eyes. One your eyes were able to focus, you turned over, expecting to find Adam on the floor next to you, but instead found breakfast and a fresh water bottle in his place. Not even Stella was there to greet you. 

You slowly sat up and felt your entire back crack in one swift motion. You winced, expecting pain, but it actually felt really good. Better than anything else that had happened recently, so you took the little victory.

The gym was empty, but you knew where they were. It was the place you never wanted to return to; the place you wished you could wipe from your memories completely. Although, a part of you was curious. 

The sun outside was bright and blinding. It felt like you had a killer hangover. The last time you felt like this, it was after a night of tequila shots, never to be spoken of again. A hazy memory of dancing on the bar with a total stranger breezed through your mind. It took a second for the gears to start turning in your brain again. You felt laggy and dazed. Maybe you had a concussion? You had never had one before, but you imagined it felt like this. 

If there was ever a time for sunglasses, you thought. You started to wander towards the police station, or at least what was left of it. The smoke was still escaping into the blue skies above you, the smell of burning wood filled the air. 

Your pace quickened once you started to hear voices. You heard Adam’s above all others with his deep serious tones. You couldn’t quite make out what they were saying yet. You turned a corner and almost tripped and fell on your face in the middle of the street. Ripping your gaze away from your feet, you looked up to see the most confusing thing you had ever seen. 

The police station was reduced to rubble. Smoke was billowing up from parts of it, but that wasn’t what caught your eye. Big, pale green roots had wrapped themselves around the wreckage, weaving between walls and through windows. At the edges, they seemed to be reaching out towards the rest of the world, stretching out towards the other buildings. 

You stood there, in shock, until you felt a hand on your shoulder. But you couldn’t bring yourself to look away. There was something even stranger, that you couldn’t quite wrap your mind around. The roots seemed to be coming from bodies. The creatures from the night before appeared to have sprouted. 

The bodies almost seemed to have melted into the ground around them, green roots escaping them in every direction. Like an explosion of tentacles trying to attach to everything in sight. As you inched closer, the air began smelling less like burning and more like freshly cut grass. Before you knew it, you were a couple feet away, hand reached out in front of you.   
“Stop!” Adam grabbed your hand and spun you around. “Don’t touch that! We don’t know what it is!” He dropped your hand and stared into your eyes. His were filled with concern and anger. Something you hadn’t seen from him before. His gaze stung and your cheeks went red. 

“We can’t stay here.” He turned back towards Freddie, breaking your gaze. Freddie didn’t say anything. You could see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He lost his friend the night before, maybe his only friend in the world. Maggie and Gary were also staring at the mess of vines and rubble. The children were playing down the street a little, the eldest keeping the other two from wandering off. 

You found a piece of wall on the ground that was untouched by the roots and took a seat before the dizziness took over. You felt defeated and tired. Adam was angry, Joe was dead, the apocalypse had descended upon you, and now you had a whole new problem at hand.

“We need to leave.” You whispered. Leaving meant leaving your home behind, but nothing was left to hold on to. The world had ended, as far as you knew. You would also be leaving bad memories behind. The meteors, the fire, losing Joe to the creatures. Who was to say that the creatures weren’t anywhere else in the world, but what was stopping you from finding out? 

“We need to leave.” You said louder, staring at your shoes. Maggie took a seat next to you, brushing your hair out of your face.

“She’s right,” she said, looking up at the rest of the group. Adam tightened his lips on his already angry face. “I know a place, a few miles away that we could check. A friend of mine owns a farm past the hill. Him and his wife and daughter have always been so kind to us.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying.” Adam rolled his eyes and looked back at the rubble. You didn’t know what you did to offend him so bad. You shook it off and looked back at Maggie. 

“I think we should go. I can’t look at this place any more.” Your words were met with nods from every one. Everyone except Freddie. He was about six feet away from the edge of the roots, with a large stick in his hand. He was focused on one root in particular.

He took a step forward and reached out the stick in front of him, hand shaking. The tip touched the surface of the root and was immediately sucked in. It was like the roots were eating it, drawing it further in, consuming it. Freddie let go and jumped back, watching the stick disappear as the root ate it. Every now and then, you could hear a snap of it breaking. 

“Nope!” He yelled, “I’m out of here!” He took off running toward the gym, not looking back. You all followed suit and walked back to the gym to gather your things. 

Adam walked past you, refusing to look you in the eye. You brushed it off and focused on getting the hell out of there. You took your comforter and put your pillows and water bottles inside. You placed it all in one of the shopping carts, and moved on to packing food. You didn’t know what you were going to find at the farm house, or even if it was still there. Hope for the best, but don’t be disappointed if you find the worst. 

Once all the carts had been filled, you stood outside, looking back out at the town. The place you lived for only a couple months, but you had made your home. The place where you decided to start over, and then end up starting over all over again. Now once again, you must start over. 

You turned towards the hill, and with a deep breath, you started walking. You couldn’t be there any more. The faster you could leave this place behind, the better.


End file.
